High Bay Automated
Storage & Retrieval Warehouse
Including packaging & dispatch bays, with an 80m enclosed conveyor
bridge to neighbouring warehouse
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276,000 cubic metre high bay warehouse was designed, made and
erected by REIDsteel for the automated storage, co-packing and
distribution of consumer products.
It has the span of 106m, is 155m long
and has a clear internal height in excess of 17m, containing robotic
storage and retrieval cranes and racking, and substantial goods in
and out areas.At
one end, the robotic system feeds a 2 storey processing and dispatch
zone.
In all, there are eleven main areas,
several multi-storey, covering 4.5 acres |
Click to enlarge |
Each
area was a building itself; but with the added complication of them
all interlinking with each other; and with conveyer systems passing
between them.
CO-PACK
MEZZANINE DISPATCH AREA
This area presented a unique problem:
the dispatch area at ground level had to be long, wide, high and
clearspan, (106m x 25m, 10m) so that trucks and forklifts could operate without hitting any columns. But: the
co-pack area above this had to carry huge loads, moving
machinery and extremely delicate weighing in equipment, which could
not tolerate deflection or vibration.
REIDsteel's solution was 25m
clearspan portals make from the heaviest beams made, and even these
beams heavily haunched up the columns and across the span: probably
the biggest such mezzanine ever built. Each frame, spaced slightly
differently to avoid resonance, needed 328 bolts each weighing 3
kilograms.
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ASAR
The remaining area of the building, 106m
span by 131m long, was designed as an economical propped portal structure
and houses the entire Automatic Storage and Retrieval (ASAR) racking
system for 40,000 pallets.
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SERVICES
The building incorporates a vast array of
services including a temperature control system maintaining an ambient
temperature range between 5ºc and 22ºc, and a high specification
sprinkler system to meet Factory Mutual insurer standards.
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CONVEYOR BRIDGE
REIDsteel also designed, made an erected
the first floor level, 80m long, covered bridge, 5m wide x 5m high
internally, with 3 support towers, to carry two conveyor systems linking
the dispatch area of the new building to an existing warehouse.
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LIAISON
Not only did REIDsteel work closely with
the client and architect but also had to work as a close team with the
mechanical engineers, the conveyor and racking engineers, the electrical
engineers and fire engineers. REIDsteel provided and erected as part of the
main building, duct supports steelwork and service
apertures, conveyor platform and supporting steelwork, electrical cable steel support
systems and tramlines of supporting steel for the sprinkler system. Having
this ready in place before the fit-out ensured speedy and efficient
installation.
REID even plotted some of the complicated
ductwork in their 3-D model to ensure a safe passage around the maze of
steelwork. It was far easier to view it in 3-D than it was in a
traditional 2-D CAD package. About 8,000 hours of design and drawing work
were needed to take the project from an empty field in January 2004 to the
completed and clad structure in September 2004. REID's draughtsmen were
often at work by 5:30am daily including some weekends. They were even seen
working over Christmas.
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SITE
The site has to be piled throughout,
therefore cranes could not be used on the piled areas lest their weight
crack the pile caps, so the entire structure had to be erected using a
small fleet of cranes outside the building footprint, including 500 and
300 tonne mobiles and two 200 tonne tracked crawler cranes with 72m jibs
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SAFETY
REID's workforce in highly trained and
certified and, in line with company policy, they designed integral safety
systems in the structure, incorporating safety netting and Mobile Elevation
Equipment to achieve all bolted connections. REID's built in roof access
systems and permanent roof edge fencing for protection during
construction, means that no expensive access or protection systems need be
employed for future maintenance.
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A FEW OTHER FACTS
The 1,200 tonne steel structure used
55,000 bolts (11 tonnes) and required 30,000m² of cladding, plus
20kms of beams and box section, 27kms of purlins and 4.6kms of bracing.
REID also provided 20
flights of stairs, 20 sectional doors, 5 dock levellers, 5 fire
roller shutters, 4 rapid rolling crash-out doors and a dozen
personnel, fire doors and glazed doors.
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REID used over 2.1kms of stainless steel
wire rope on the roof edge protection. They also designed and provided 7
docking platforms and gates, as well as 8 runs of cat ladders to allow
access for both plant and personnel in the roof areas. REID also made and
fitted all the aluminium windows and curtain glazing. The whole project
was finished on budget and on time.
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