Komatsu Distribution Centre

The greenfield site at Wacol presented a 10-metre fall from its north-west to south-east corner, so a substantial civil and retaining package was needed before the level building pad could be formed. More than 4,000sqm of retaining wall was constructed and around 50,000m³ of earth and rock cut and filled, work that represented over a third of the total project value. Early earthworks also uncovered contaminated fill containing asbestos, tyres, plastic and concrete, which was removed and replaced or recompacted to reach the required compaction.

Four different retaining wall systems were used to manage the level changes across the site, including cantilevered in-situ concrete walls up to six metres high and 220mm tilt panels forming the slab fold between the distribution centre and the large parts store. Detailed temporary works engineering kept these walls stable until the permanent structure was complete.

The distribution centre required super-flat burnished concrete floors to suit Komatsu’s wire-guided automatic forklifts, which operate at height and speed fully loaded. A 300mm cement-treated base was laid under the floor, and pre-pour trials, a concrete technologist, early-morning pours and daily testing held every pour above specification, averaging FF100 and FL85. The adjoining large parts store sits four metres lower and is served by a 30-tonne gantry crane running the 120-metre length of the store, with seven metres of clearance under the hook for moving motors and gearboxes.

The Innovation Hub gives Komatsu a space to display machinery and technology, with an eight-metre ceiling, a six-metre multi-fold glass door for driving equipment inside, a 360-degree visual display and a glazed curtain wall along two elevations. An underpass beneath the machine hardstand links the new facility to Komatsu’s adjacent site, and Komatsu’s own SMARTCONSTRUCTION drone technology supported earthworks survey and site logistics throughout the build.