Melbourne and Adelaide Air Traffic Control Towers
The Melbourne Air Traffic Control Tower ATCT consisted of a 75m tall reinforced concrete tower at Melbourne Airport while the Adelaide ATCT was 44m and located at the Adelaide Airport. Apart from their height, the construction and geometry of the two towers were exactly the same. The architectural form of both towers consists of a tall lift and stair core structure from ground level, which then splays outwards at the top to form a ‘flute’ section to house the operational areas of the tower.
This project was originally put to market for tender under the traditional delivery model with a fully detailed design. Due to the height, outward splaying flute section at the top and the proposed construction methodology proposed within the design documents, many contractors and subcontractors had underlying safety concerns and chose not to bid for the project. To alleviate this, the structural engineers from SCE Australia teamed up with Hanson Yuncken and came up with an innovative alternative design to effectively use concrete as the main construction material but also enable the towers to be safely constructed. Hansen Yuncken submitted the alternative design as part of their tender which included using a slip-form technique for the core structures and precast concrete for the upper ‘Flute’ area. This alternative design was accepted by Airservices Australia and facilitated a much safer construction methodology while also accelerating the construction programme.
At the request of the client Air services Australia and Hansen Yuncken, the structural engineers at SCE were requested to review and redesign the viewing glazed cabin structure. A steel framed cabin structure was designed, with a central tubular supporting steel column with cantilevered roof rafters forming an umbrella shaped structure. Pre-tensioned rods connected to the end of the rafter to ensure no gravity load was transferred to the glazing. This solution enabled 360 degree uninterrupted views to be achieved to the satisfaction of the air traffic controllers.
