Lower embodied carbon reinforcing steel for new Mandurah Hospital WA

The foundations of Western Australia’s new Mandurah Hospital are providing an opportunity to combine lower embodied carbon steel with smarter construction.

InfraBuild has commenced delivery of SENSE 600® prefabricated pile cages for foundation specialist Avopiling, with the first cages now delivered to the project.

The new Mandurah Hospital is being delivered by the Built SACYR Joint Venture for the Western Australian Government and will significantly expand healthcare services for the growing Peel region.

With sustainability an important consideration in the project’s delivery, the use of SENSE 600® provides a practical way to reduce both the amount of reinforcing steel required and its associated embodied carbon.

Less steel, lower embodied carbon

SENSE 600® is InfraBuild’s Australian-made high-strength 600 MPa reinforcing steel.

Its higher strength means up to 16.7% less raw material can be used to achieve equivalent load capacity compared with conventional 500 MPa reinforcing steel.

SENSE 600® is manufactured in Australia from 100% scrap metal using InfraBuild’s electric arc furnaces and delivers up to 60%* lower embodied carbon compared to other reinforcing steel based on the latest NABERS Material Emissions Factors Database.

For the new Mandurah Hospital, these benefits are being incorporated into the project’s foundations through prefabricated SENSE 600® pile cages.

It’s an example of how material selection and construction methodology can work together to reduce embodied carbon from the earliest stages of a project.

Building offsite to improve productivity

Rather than fabricating the reinforcement entirely on site, the pile cages are prefabricated by InfraBuild in a controlled environment before being transported to the project ready for installation.

Prefabrication can reduce the amount of reinforcement work required on site, while improving consistency and helping simplify installation.

The use of higher-strength SENSE 600® adds another benefit. With less steel required to achieve equivalent load capacity, there is less material to fabricate, transport and handle.

Together, prefabrication and higher-strength reinforcing provide an opportunity to improve construction productivity while reducing material use and embodied carbon.

“The new Mandurah Hospital is a great example of how we can work with our customers to find practical ways to improve the way projects are delivered. Combining prefabrication with SENSE 600® allows us to reduce material use and embodied carbon while supporting greater efficiency on site.”

Michael Hurley, General Manager WA, InfraBuild

Supporting critical infrastructure across Western Australia

The new Mandurah Hospital continues InfraBuild’s involvement in major health infrastructure projects across Western Australia.

InfraBuild is also supporting the new Women and Babies Hospital at Murdoch and the Osborne Park Hospital upgrade, and has recently commenced supply of prefabricated pile cages for the Royal Perth Hospital upgrade.

This growing portfolio provides an opportunity to apply the same combination of local manufacturing, technical expertise and prefabrication across some of the state’s most important infrastructure projects.

For customers such as Avopiling, it also demonstrates what can be achieved when suppliers are involved in finding solutions that go beyond simply supplying reinforcing steel.

By considering material efficiency, prefabrication and embodied carbon together, InfraBuild can help customers identify opportunities to improve construction productivity and reduce the carbon associated with their projects.

A practical lower carbon solution

SENSE 600® is manufactured to AS/NZS 4671 and is designed to make the transition to higher-strength reinforcing as straightforward as possible.

It can be used across a range of applications, including foundations, columns, walls and cores, slabs, beams, precast elements and infrastructure.

Projects such as the new Mandurah Hospital demonstrate how those benefits translate into real construction applications.

From reducing the amount of raw material required to moving fabrication into a controlled environment, the result is a reinforcing solution designed to deliver the structural performance projects need while supporting lower embodied carbon and greater construction productivity.

*Compared to the average from NABERS Material Emissions Factors Database, Reinforcing Steel, v2026.2.