Foodland Associated Warehouse Perth

The big lift

An unconventional technique enabled the steelwork for Foodland Associated Ltd’s (FAL) massive new distribution warehouse in Perth to be completed ahead of schedule.

The entire roof structure of the 54,000sqm, steel-framed building was pre-erected in sections on the ground and then hoisted into place by cranes. This unusual method was judged the safest and best solution to laying roof trusses across spans of up to 40m between column centres in the 350m long by 150m wide structure. And it enabled the project’s steel fabricators and erectors, Fremantle Steel Fabrication Co. (1979), to complete the steelwork substantially quicker than by conventional methods.