Muchea Livestock Centre
Industrial
- Wind tunnel testing to reduce structural steelwork
- Minimum steel tonnage per sqm.
- Large roof area.
- Unique structure to suit operational requirements.
- Anaerobic and aerobic ponds in addition to clean and grey water dams.
Pritchard Francis provided civil and structural engineering consultancy services for the new state of the art multi species sale yard facility on behalf of Building Management Works and the West Australian Meat Authority.
The engineering challenge was to design a roof that was simple to construct, repetitive, cost efficient and allowed competitive tendering.
The wind code, AS1170.2, does not provide adequate guidance on open sawtooth structures. Believed to be producing a conservative design solution, wind tunnel testing of the structure was undertaken at UWA. Results from wind tunnel testing produced a significant 51% reduction in total horizontal wind loads and fundamentally changed the structural solution. This wind load reduction, coupled with refinement of the design, produced a cost saving to the client of approximately $750,000. Innovative and efficient design, paired with attention to simple details and construction efficiencies, produced an economical structure that does not obstruct saleyard operations and pose a hazard to livestock.