Osborne South shipbuilding precinct build complete

South Australia’s naval and shipbuilding industry hub, the Osborne South Development Project, has completed construction and is ready for handover to ASC Shipbuilding.

CAPTION: Outfitting hall B22 at Osborne South shipyard, featuring 30m wide by 34m high ‘gigadoors’. Image supplied.
Right: An overview of the Osborne South Development Project.

The Osborne South Development Project is home to Australia’s two largest naval projects – the Collins-class submarine sustainment project and the Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyer project, and will be the build location for the nation’s $50billion Attack-class submarine programme, the $35billion Hunter-class frigate programme as well as future frigate and future destroyer programmes for continuous shipbuilding in Australia.

Once fully operational the Osborne South Development Project will employ approximately 5000 people.

Australian engineering, design and advisory company Aurecon was the lead engineering and advisory consultant on the project, working in partnership with Australian Naval Infrastructure, Odense Marine Technologies and Lendlease.

Aurecon Principal, Infrastructure Advisory and Built Environment Niko Tsoukalas said the shipbuilding hub’s enormous buildings and windy coastal location called for innovative engineering design.

“The largest steel structure on the site, B22 outfitting hall – measuring 190 metres long, 90 metres wide and 50 metres high – is designed to house two ships side-by-side for construction,” Mr Tsoukalas said.

“It’s almost as large as the Adelaide Oval, and as tall as a 17-story building.

“The design requirement to easily transport ships in and out of the building also meant that we had to engineer the building to accommodate an enormous 30 metres wide by 34 metres high ‘gigadoor’ – the size of which has never been seen in Australia before.

“Naturally, putting a door of that size into a building with a significant internal volume has the potential to create a resonance due to the wind effects – similar to when you open the car window while driving at high speed.

“This wind action can put further strain on the four thousand tonne structure and its 6500 steel members.

“To overcome this challenge, we used advanced digital models and analysis to engineer the best and safest design solution.

“It’s been a fantastic project to be a part of, and it will be a real asset to our Navy and the local economy for many generations to come.”

Aurecon Managing Director Defence and National Security ANZ David Barnes said that the Osborne South Development Project was crucial to support the growing capability of the Royal Australian Navy.

“More than 200 Aurecon engineers with deep technical knowledge from across the country came together over three years to help bring to life the colossal Osborne South Development project,” David said.

“Teamwork between Aurecon’s partners brought together significant interdisciplinary design experience that has delivered a world-class facility capable of supporting Australia’s future shipbuilding program.”

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