Futureproofing Australia’s largest container port

Working closely with The Port of Melbourne (PoM), we’re helping to remediate Swanson Dock West, extending the life of this vital economic infrastructure by over 50 years to support Victoria’s prosperity for decades to come.

Swanson Dock West at the Port of Melbourne is a major international container terminal, originally constructed in stages through the 1960s to 1980s.

Since 2020, together with PoM and sub-consultant Infracorr, Beca has developed the design through concept design, site investigations and a detailed design stage that has included value engineering input from Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) partner McConnell Dowell.

Our design approach has incorporated a number of innovative solutions that improve the constructability of the works and can be built while minimising the impact on the ongoing operation of this crucial terminal.

Working with our digital team we developed a 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) model of the existing infrastructure and our new design. We used this model to review how our design interacted with the existing conditions and undertook interdisciplinary reviews using this model to visualise clashes e.g. between new piles and existing services.

The detailed design deliverables were completed in late 2021, and the Beca team remain working closely with Port of Melbourne as they develop their plans. Construction commenced in late 2022.