Dunedin Hospital Build Enters New Phase

Steel is going up at the New Dunedin Hospital.

The first structural steel was installed yesterday, marking the moment the inpatient building begins to rise above ground after months of foundation work largely hidden from public view.

It is a significant build by any measure. The inpatient building covers 72,000 square metres — the largest component of the entire hospital project. More than 15,200 individual steel components will eventually be erected, drawn from around 11,000 tonnes of steel arriving by road and sea freight across the life of the project. About 550 large truck loads in total.

Much of the steel was made in New Zealand, by businesses in Christchurch and Auckland. Fabricating it required an estimated 330,000 man hours.

Project director for the inpatient building Tony Lloyd said the milestone marks a genuine turning point.

"Until now, much of the work has been at ground level out of public view," Lloyd said. "Today's installation of the first structural steel represents the beginning of the hospital taking shape above ground and will eventually give people their first real sense of the scale of what is being built."

Major site works on the former Cadbury site have been completed by CPB Contractors, with foundation work done and vertical construction now cleared to proceed. One tower crane is already operating on site. Two more are expected in the coming weeks, lifting the steel framework and major building components into place.

"The installation of the tower cranes and steel framework signals the transition into a new phase of construction," Lloyd said. "Over the coming months, people will see the building grow higher as the structure starts to take shape across the site."

The inpatient building will house an expanded emergency department, operating theatres, a short-stay surgical unit, intensive care unit, high-dependency beds and inpatient wards.

Next door, the outpatient building is nearing completion and is due to open later this year. An overhead bridge across St Andrew Street will connect the two buildings.