Case Studies
Element Hill, Hamilton Island
Situated on the northern side of Hamilton Island sits Element Hill. This stunning 8-bedroom home offers accommodation for up to 17 guests along with a private pool, gym and outdoor fire pit which overlooks the breathtaking views of the Whitsundays.
The Kehoe Myers team were engaged for the Civil, Structural and Hydraulic Engineering services on this property. Our team faced complexities throughout the project which included the high retaining wall structures for the infinity style swimming pool to overlook the view.
After the geotechnical test results were completed, it was revealed that the ground of the property was very rocky which meant our team had to alter the design to account for this. We had envisaged the use of a piling system in some areas which changed to a reinforced slab to accommodate the rocky soil.
As Element Hill is in Australia’s cyclone prone area (areas within 50km of the Queensland coastline north of Bundaberg) the team also had to account for the cyclone events. This required the house to adhere to the Australian Standard AS/NZS 1170.2., as its location is in Wind Region C. Home in this area are to be designed to resist a cyclone with winds of 250 kilometres per hour. As Element Hill is built on a hillside, it is exposed to stronger winds of C4 category which requires a design site wind speed of 310km/h. Along with this, as the property is located on an island, the corrosive salty air and storm surges were other factors which had to be considered. Storm surges are when the tide reach unexpected highs during a storm event. This was taken into consideration when discussing the location of the home on the block. The corrosive salty air at Hamilton Island impacted the construction materials which were to be used, this therefore affected what materials were to be included in our structural design.
This magnificent home nestled neatly on Hamilton Island provides the guests with luxurious accommodation in the heart of the Whitsundays, including many A-List Celebrities. We are excited to be able to add this to our ever-growing Luxury Residential Portfolio.
Kalimna Park Subdivision
Kalimna Park Estate is a residential subdivision situated in Highfields, delivering 360 lots over 12 stages with construction lasting 12 years from 2004 to 2016.
Kehoe Myers was engaged as the project’s Principal Consultant from the onset and was able to assemble and coordinate a strong local team to develop a detailed master plan of the estate. We undertook the development planning phase works. With direct input from the local land sales agent, this master plan was able to provide a holistic view of the area’s geography and utilise the strengths of the surface profile to conform to the current market demands and key drivers such as lot shape, and slope and size. This resulted in fully developed lots with sufficient room for a rear shed and good width frontage to depth ratios, as well as streets that utilised the horizontal and vertical alignment to increase road safety, allotment appeal and aesthetics.
Through sustainable design, the land was developed at a similar cost per lot to neighbouring developments whilst utilising a significant level of greenspace, with a greater visual appeal through making use of ample parklands, public-use spaces, significant-quality native street trees and great connectivity for both pedestrian and vehicular traffic throughout the development.
Through effective and comprehensive planning with the chosen development team, the outcomes that were achieved from concept to construction resulted in more positive outcomes for the Developers and increased value for money for the residents of the estate.
Engaging experienced Consulting Engineers to control the development process with the right multidisciplined team leads to greater results and more profitable outcomes for the team. This is proven by the higher sales prices in the estate than the adjoining developments.
The Arbour Boutique Apartments
The Arbour Boutique Apartments is a 4 level building with a basement. It consists of a mix of single and 2 bedroom units. Small blocks of land provide challenges with regards to maximising design space whilst considering space for functional amenities and regulatory requirements.
Examples of these challenges include ensuring sufficient car spaces in the basement and sufficient fire egress. Our team, alongside the Architects, modified initial designs to include a secondary access path out of the basement to ensure regulatory requirements were met for fire exits, whilst still meeting the carpark requirements for 11 apartments.
The building was also designed close to boundaries. Often when this occurs, the construction team require access to the neighbours’ properties. Our team decided the use of pile and shotcrete for basement retaining walls would mitigate impact to the neighbouring residential property and Council footpath.
The building has an impressive cantilever design in the North West corner. This means Levels 1 to 3 extend out over the building underneath. Our engineering team had to ensure the design accurately transferred the load back over the smaller podium level.
Stormwater and drainage is also a challenge on smaller blocks. Our Hydraulic, Civil and Structural Engineering teams worked together to determine the best designs for stormwater and drainage. This included, designing pipes around a large quantity of transfer beams in the slab, and also working closely with the Architect on the detention tank. It was important to ensure the detention tank had sufficient capacity and drainage. This meant designing the detention tank at podium level rather than basement level to ensure invert levels match-up with street level and stormwater drainage.
The Arbour Boutique Apartments are an impressive example of great design by architects and innovative engineering by our team to achieve the desired outcome for the client.
Burke & Wills Hotel Refurbishment
Kehoe Myers has been involved in a number of iconic projects in Toowoomba, including the $15 million refurbishment of the Burke & Wills Hotel.
The Hotel was originally designed by Dr Karl Langer, an acclaimed Austrian architect. The hotel was built in 1956 and we were fortunate to sight the original plans for the building. Unfortunately, there had been significant modifications on the building since its construction and those plans were not all available. Suffice to say our team and the construction crew came across some surprises along the way.
Kehoe Myers was involved in the civil and structural work for the building. The hotel comprises 82 guest rooms, 2 restaurants, a bar and 5 modern function rooms of varying sizes. Our work included analysing the building to ensure previous modifications did not impact the structural nature of the work being completed. Our team also needed to ensure the weight of the new façade would not cause issues into the future.
Darren Dickfos was the Architect and ensured the old-world charm remained with a gold-plated revolving door and custom designed chandelier. We recommend paying a visit to this iconic Toowoomba hotel.
Wellcamp Airport Project
Kehoe Myers was the lead Engineer for the Wellcamp Airport and Wellcamp Business Park developed by the Wagner family. Wellcamp Airport was the first privately funded major airport in the country.
The airport has a 2.87km long runway that is 747 capable with fully licensed internal cargo facilities and a world-class passenger terminal. The airport is surrounded by the Wellcamp Business Park which is situated on 500 hectares of land with a planned access to the new Toowoomba Bypass.
Kehoe Myers was a key consultant from the outset of planning. Our team walked over the site and coordinated the geo-technical investigation, project planning, feasibility and cost estimations for establishment of the airport and business park on a greenfield site.
The scale of the precinct provided complexities due to the massive earthworks involved. Additionally, there were complexities with the location. The site is located 6 kilometres west of the Toowoomba utilities network. Our team developed concept designs and detailed designs to bring services for water to the site. Our team also developed the design for on-site reticulation of services. Sewerage and drainage collection are managed internally with effluent treatment and provision for recycling on site within a community titles system.
The second range crossing also provided unforeseen challenges. The design of the crossing impacted the runway which had already started construction. The Kehoe Myers team worked collaboratively with the Nexus team to mitigate the potential costs which were expected to be more than $25 million. Our team developed a concept design to redesign a section of the second range crossing. This ensured the runway’s obstacle limitation surface did not restrict the airport’s current and future plans for aircraft landing and departure. This was a great example of how logical and exceptional engineering design can save a lot of public and private funds.
Engineering an airport from greenfield site through to completion required our team to understand and apply the Civil Aviation Authority’s Manual of Standards to this project. Our team continue to work on the Wellcamp Business Park which will be a self-sustaining commercial precinct. Kehoe Myers was proud to be a part of such an iconic facility, not only for Toowoomba, but for all of Australia. Congratulations to the Wagner family for achieving such a huge accomplishment!
Escarpment Land Development
Sanctuary Rise Development is a residential subdivision, delivering 311 lots over 6 stages. It was designed to enhance economic productivity and affordable living within the community of Toowoomba.
The elevated aspect of the subdivision atop Cranley escarpment provides commanding views however, it also presented some unique challenges to the design team that required significant innovation and “out of the box” thinking to address. These challenges were met with engineered retaining walls keyed securely into the founding bedrock, and innovative stormwater drainage solutions.
With regards to stormwater drainage solutions, the management of overland stormwater flows such that runoff volumes down the escarpments did not exceed those experienced prior to the development. The remainder of the developed flow was piped to multiple detention basins within the nature reserve at the bottom of the escarpment, which have been fully landscaped to blend into the reserve environment. The basins’ design incorporates tenable water quality bio-retention components to outlet stormwater in a much environmentally better way.
Sanctuary Rise provided challenges with regards to the steep escarpment but our team embraced the challenges to ensure the development was constructed in a safe and sustainable manner.
Feasibility Studies
Kehoe Myers has a multi-disciplined team working together on a range of projects at different project phases from concept through to construction.
Some of these projects are not purely engineering based. For example, our team delivers early stage feasibility studies, options analysis, project cost/benefit assessments and business case development.
For the Queensland Government’s Maturing the Infrastructure Pipeline Program, Kehoe Myers undertook Rapid Assessments of a number of local government projects throughout Queensland in the Arts, Culture and Recreation field. The projects included Ipswich Performing Arts Complex, Rockhampton Convention Centre, Townsville Stadium and Sunshine Coast Entertainment, Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Our role was to determine the current stage of each project, what had been done to date and what was needed to progress them. Questions are asked through this process, such as:
- Why a project was initially developed?
- What problem is it trying to solve?
- What are the other potential solutions?
- Who are the stakeholders?
- Who benefits from the project and who should have a say?
- What are the outcomes sought?
- How will we know if the purpose of the project has been achieved on completion?
We were also appointed by the Queensland Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDMIP) to complete a number of further project investigations pursuant to the Queensland Treasury’s Project Assessment Framework (PAF).
We were engaged to deliver Strategic Assessments of Service Requirements (SASR) for a Warwick Indoor Equine Facility and the Condamine River Road 14 Crossings Project in the Southern Downs Region. These assessments were undertaken through research, speaking to stakeholders and really trying to identify the existing problem that the project is proposed to address and to determine the recommended next steps.
In addition to these SASR assessments, our team was engaged to do a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) for the Bedford Weir Road in Central Queensland. This is the next step under the PAF and involves assessing and analysing different options and reviewing the economic impacts of those options.
Our team takes a collaborative innovative and approach to this type of work. It requires diverse skillsets including research skills, stakeholder engagement, logical thinking, economic analysis and reporting. We are fortunate to have a strong network of consultants to work with on these projects, including Economists and Environmental Consultants.
Kehoe Myers’ diverse team means our complementary skillsets and knowledge can deliver a range of projects that aren’t necessarily engineering specific. This is just one example of such a project.
The Glennie School Sports Centre
Kehoe Myers added to its portfolio of Sports Stadiums with the opening of The Glennie School’s Clive Berghofer Sports Centre in May 2019.
The Sports Centre is a three court indoor centre, adjoining the Glennie School’s existing aquatic facility. The space has a floor area of more than 3,500 m2 and includes reception, café, office, first aid room, amenities and multi-purpose courts with perimeter seating. The Centre also has undercroft car parking and storage.
The Centre was constructed with large-span steel roof trusses, and suspended post tension concrete floor. The Architects, Burling Brown, ensured the building complemented the existing Glennie School aesthetics.
This $8 million Centre is one of a number of projects Kehoe Myers has completed at Glennie School. Our team were also involved in the Science Centre, Theatre Room, and multiple car parking projects just to name a few.
The Clive Berghofer Sports Centre is a wonderful addition to the Glennie School’s first-class sporting facilities catering for all their student’s sporting ambitions.
Kershaw Gardens Revitalisation
Kershaw Gardens is considered the “big back yard” for all Rockhampton citizens.
The Gardens were originally established in 1988. Unfortunately, in 2015, Cyclone Marcia caused significant damage to the Gardens, including uprooting of trees and exposing some old landfill areas.
Rockhampton Regional Council committed to redeveloping the area after the cyclone. The newly revitalised Kershaw Gardens opened in August 2018 and consists of an impressive new range of playground equipment, architecturally designed shelters, barbecue areas, amenities block, and waterplay and waterplay equipment building.
The new playground equipment also includes a 5 level Super Sphere custom made in Germany. Wyatt’s Wonder Web Super Sphere was originally designed for New York’s Central Park. It is approximately 9 metres high with 5 levels of netting and tunnels running underneath the sphere. This world-first playground technology allows kids to make their way through various obstacles, ladders and swings.
Kehoe Myers was involved in the structural and hydraulic engineering, working alongside Rockhampton Regional Council, McMurtrie Engineers, Woods Bagot and Urbis.
The parklands are impressive with an expansive waterplay area inspired by the Fitzroy River. This project is an example of our team’s reputation for excellence spreading beyond the Darling Downs area.
Killarney Memorial Aged Care
Killarney Memorial Aged Care has been undergoing significant renovations and expansion.
Our team has been providing the Civil, Structural and Hydraulic design engineering, as well as providing the Project Management for the design and construction phase.
This project is a six-stage project with a combination of renovations to existing buildings, and construction of new buildings. Construction of stages 2 and 3 was completed in July and delivered a new 2 storey building. The lower level is 1290m2 consisting of car parks, kitchen, laundry, offices and staff rooms. The upper level is 1534m2 and delivers 33 resident rooms.
The building is split level and partially cut into a hill requiring innovative engineering in the lower level retention. Our team had to consider column placement to maximise the number of carparks in the lower level while also providing an economical suspended slab.
Our team faced some challenges with reactivity of the soil on site. The soil is extremely reactive and our engineers had to detail the slab design in such a way that it would not be affected by ground movement. Our team determined a suspended slab would not only provide the ideal solution, but also future proofs the site – The suspended slab was detailed to allow changes in plumbing in the future, which can often occur in healthcare facilities.
There were additional challenges with regards to drainage and onsite treatment. The existing facilities use onsite treatment. With the increase in residents, a larger onsite treatment facility was required. Our team researched a number of treatment systems to identify a facility that was compact in size. The system selected is widely used in Europe and treats large amounts of non-standard effluent waste. This was particularly important as the waste from aged care facilities often contains larger quantities of medication. Should the onsite facility not treat this waste effectively, solid waste and/or waste high in medication, will be delivered to the Council plant. Waste containing medication can damage the biodiversity of Council’s discharge facilities, in this case the wetlands.
The site also contains a pump station to assist in pumping the waste from the kitchen and laundry to the treatment plant. Large tanks are also on-site allowing rainwater to be used in toilets and for garden irrigation.
The most recent extensions for Killarney Memorial Aged Care were completed in July, and future extension work is planned for this growing Aged Care facility. This facility is a fantastic centre for the community and we’ve been proud to be a part of their expansion.
Kilalah Park Land Development
Kehoe Myers is proud to be involved in the development of Kilalah Park Estate.
Kilalah Park state is a residential land subdivision off Kratzke Road in Highfields. It is an 8-stage development delivering 202 lots into the bustling Highfields centre. This development is sure to be a success given its close proximity to local schools and the shopping centre.
Large-scale land subdivisions pose many challenges. For Kilalah Park Estate, the delivery of large trunk infrastructure whilst keeping the development economical required careful consideration by our team. A large set of playing fields/ovals acting as stormwater detention basins contributes a significant amount of runoff towards the development.
Our team were also able to turn a major natural gully receiving these flows into a useable amenity with the design of a permanent wetland area and play park. The wetland area provides both water quality treatment and visually pleasing surrounding parkland and fully landscaped play areas.
Stage 1, recently completed, consisted of 31 lots ranging in size from 562m2 to 963m2. Stage 2 of Kilalah Park is due to be delivered in 2019.
Our team is looking forward to supporting our client through the remaining stages of this impressive land development.
Toowoomba Grammar School Stadium
Kehoe Myers recently added to their portfolio of sports stadiums/centres with the new Toowoomba Grammar School Stadium.
The TGS Stadium is an impressive building with 2 large basketball courts expertly engineered above a large open space that accommodates 5 indoor cricket pitches. The upper level basketball courts are surrounded by elevated spectator seating, classrooms and staff rooms.
The Civil and Structural Engineering undertaken by our team was complex. The lower level was cut 10 metres into the existing oval on one side. The retaining wall was engineered to be independent of the building and used slip joints to allow movement without impacting the building. The retaining structure also needed to be carefully considered to enable linking between new and existing retaining walls.
The structural engineering components of the building were also complex. To enable the open space, our team determined that large-span composite beams provided the ideal structure. This approach allowed open space for the cricket pitches whilst providing superior support for the basketball courts above. The engineering also required careful consideration of accurate deflection for the specialist sports flooring. The sports flooring laid by specialist contractors used more than 10,000 packers to provide the all-important floor levelling for the sports courts.
The site constraints added challenges that our team embraced with full enthusiasm. Wilson Architects did a wonderful job in ensuring the existing character of TGS remained whilst providing functional modern space for current and future students. Our team enjoyed the problem-solving process associated with this project and continue to add to their portfolio of sports stadiums including St Ursula’s College Salo Centre and the Glennie School Sports Stadium (currently in constructions).
The Orchard…a Delightful Estate!
Kehoe Myers’ expertise in land subdivisions continues to grow with the recent completion of stage 1 of “The Orchard” in Westbrook.
The Orchard is a three-stage residential land development. Stage 1 construction was completed in August 2018 and consisted of 27 lots over a 2.28-hectare property.
Kehoe Myers’ Civil Engineering team was involved from the outset. The project started in 2015 with our team developing concept plans and assisting with town planning requirements of the site. Our team then supported the client through to completion with detailed design plans and construction services.
As with most subdivisions, there were some challenges. The current site drainage was substandard therefore our team had to carefully consider the downstream trunk drainage. Additionally, there were geotechnical challenges. The site contained black soil with decomposed basalt underneath. Black soil is highly reactive and unsuitable for roads and structures. Our team identified a creative solution to address this problem by founding the infrastructure in the decomposed basalt.
The Orchard is a visually pleasing estate with lots ranging in size from 750m2 to 976m2. Stage 2 and 3 will provide an additional 70 blocks in the future. Kehoe Myers enjoyed the process of working with our client on The Orchard stage 1 and look forward to continuing work on the next stages.
Rockhampton Riverside Precinct
One of Kehoe Myers’ latest projects recently won the Award of Excellence for Parks and Open Space at the 2018 Queensland Landscape Architecture Awards.
Rockhampton’s Riverside precinct was designed to provide a public space showcasing the beauty of the Fitzroy River. The riverside precinct covers 3.3 hectares of upper and lower parkland and extends 600 metres along the River.
The riverside precinct covers 3.3 hectares of upper and lower parkland and extends 600 metres along the River. Kehoe Myers was appointed by McMurtrie Consulting Engineers and worked alongside their team, with Rockhampton Regional Council, Woods Bagot Architects and Urbis in developing the precinct. The precinct consists of a restaurant and bar with lift facilities, water play area, parkland and playground.
The engineering required careful consideration to the site as much of the area was built below flood level. A bunker room was engineered to house pump equipment – this room was designed to remain water proof and withstand flooding. Our engineering team also utilised piers of the existing structure to eliminate the need for further piers to be built in the river.
The architects design included corten cladding which provides an impressive aesthetic whilst blending in with the natural environment. This project is an example of our team’s reputation for excellence spreading beyond the Darling Downs area.
Service Station Projects
Kehoe Myers’ service station portfolio continues to grow with our team undertaking more than 20 service station projects.
Our engineering team works closely with all external consultants to deliver the service station projects with the utmost care to our clients. We now have a team specialising in this style of project, and who are familiar with regulatory requirements across many regions in Australia.
These projects span across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Our team supports the client in civil, structural and hydraulic engineering services for the service stations. Which commences from due diligence, development approval, building approval and construction phase services.
Each service station project has its own challenges dependent on the location, Local Authority requirements, topography and soil conditions. One particular service station at Echuca in Victoria where the local Council has strict requirements on allowable stormwater outflow from the site which ultimately flows to the Murray River. Our team designed the surface levels in a hump and sag fashion so that storage could be provided above the stormwater grates to fill up after rainfall events and allow the stormwater to slowly outflow to Councils requirements. This solution ensured the design met Council conditions and provided the site with adequate stormwater drainage. The Echuca service station is currently in construction and due to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.
Kingaroy service station is currently in construction. It was found during design that there was a large external catchment that flowed through the site and during construction phase there are high water table issues. Our expert team designed a solution for stormwater drainage and levels that would convey the external stormwater catchment without affecting neighbours’ properties during design phase. During construction we provided additional subsoil drainage, changed backfill around stormwater pipes and pushed down stormwater pipes to control subsoil drainage issues. This project provided further challenges with regards to the soft soil on site. Our engineers determined screw piles provided the most beneficial solution for providing adequate bearing from the soil to hold up the structure.
Our service station portfolio is another example of our team’s expertise in complex sites extending beyond the Toowoomba region.
QM Properties – Residential Subdivision
Kehoe Myers’ Civil and Hydraulic Engineering team are currently working on a rural subdivision.
Stage 1 and 2 construction will start in September 2018. These stages will deliver 10 and 27 lots respectively with a large detention basin.
The site at Plainland is 43.88 hectares with the subdivision to be released in 3 stages. There are 62 lots over the 3 stages with lots starting at 1 acre in size.
The site provided some challenges due to large external catchments and lot configuration. Our engineering team made adjustments to the layout of lots to allow the external catchment to be conveyed and optimal drainage for the subdivision. Further challenges arose with regards to the dispersive soil. Our team determined a treatment using geofabrics provided the necessary erosion control in these areas.
Constructions for stages 1 and 2 is expected to take approximately 4 months. This subdivision provides the Lockyer Valley region with beautiful large blocks to support the growth in the area.
A CFT PROJECT REVIEW
The Alderley Street pedestrian bridge was a timber bridge that had significant deterioration.
Kehoe Myers assisted Wagner Investments with the design of a new pedestrian bridge, to be completed using Wagners innovative product CFT – Composite Fibre Technology. Wagners CFT has been regularly utilising Kehoe Myers’ services for the structural design of their composite fibre projects, consisting mainly of boardwalks and pedestrian bridges throughout Australia. Composite fibre has
distinct durability advantages over conventional construction materials such as concrete, steel and timber, and as such is becoming more widely used for these types of applications.
The bridge designed by our Structural engineers is a three (3) span bridge with an approach of 4m on each side with a 22m span, 30m in total and 4m wide. The bridge was designed on a new alignment making it more cost effective for the client. Unlike traditional construction materials such as timber and steel, the bridge is designed to be constructed from composite fibre to promote reduced maintenance and extended design life due to the durability of the material.
Along with the structural design, our civil team was involved with the design of erosion and sediment control as well our project coordination team who compiled the Safety in Design and Risk Register associated with the project.
The bridge was completed in mid-2022.
