12 Construction Surveying Surveyors charged with tall order

Gold Coast surveyors, Treasure and Associates have been charged with a tall order - the surveying and monitoring of the world's soon-to-be tallest residential building - "The ". Currently being constructed in the heart of Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast of Australia and planned for completion in 2005, the architecturally stunning tower will soar to a massive 80 storeys (323m / 1,058 ft). By March 2004, construction of the complex had reached level 30 and just 46 apartments remain for sale.

Developers, Sunland Group observation deck at the top During construction, a poly- Ltd have designed the of the tower where they will mer liquid was used prior to Q1 Tower to offer five-star enjoy the breathtaking pouring of the concrete to resort living, with 527 apart- views that encompass the prevent the sand falling in. (below from left): Brian Rogers ments comprising of pent- crystal clear waters of the The aboveground construc- and Rod Stead from Treasure houses, as well as one-, Pacific Ocean; the 42 kilo- tion wasn't easy either, with and Associates together with two- and three-bedroom metres of pristine sandy the outside building Lawrie Watson from Leica apartments. The fastest lifts beaches of the Gold Coast; columns needing to be Geosystems’ Australian distribu- in Australia travelling at 9.0 the green hills of the hinter- linked to the central core to tors, C.R.Kennedy and Company m/s (1772 ft/min) will take land; as well as the exten- minimise wind movement Pty Ltd. visitors and residents to the sive waterways and the and to strengthen the struc- Broadwater. A ten- ture. Although concrete per- Sky Garden from level 60 forms exceptionally well upwards will showcase under compression, it does tropical Queensland's not perform so well under unique flora and fauna. tension, so it was necessary to reinforce the concrete Engineering innovation with steel bars (rebars).

Despite its lavish features Monitoring of the and impressive grandeur, it construction is the engineering behind its construction where Q1 Brian Rogers and Rod achieves real innovation. Stead, Project Managers of Construction challenges surveying consultants were encountered due to Treasure and Associates, the sandy soil and proximi- have been working closely ty to the ocean, which on the logistics involved in meant that it was necessary monitoring the construction for foundations to stretch of the massive building. almost 17 storeys under- A significant problem in ground. After boring monitoring is the wind through the ancient seabed, movement. "We prefer to do drillers eventually struck the surveying work during rock that was seven times times of low wind," Rod harder than concrete and Stead said. "The sea breeze literally drilled the 26 build- can cause the buildings to ing plings 5 metres into it. move up to 20mm." The six largest of these Plumbing of the lift shafts is span 2.4m in diameter. undertaken by the builders Construction Surveying 13

World record holder

The Q1 tower will hold a number of world records. When completed it will become the tallest residential tower in the world and will eclipse world famous structures such as New York's 319m and the 321m in . Its oval- shaped spire, which starts at level 50 (146m high) and extends 47m above the glass fin, will be the world's longest at 176m in length. It also boasts the highest swimming pool in Australia (15m x 6m), which will be located in the penthouse on level 74, 217m above ground level. Q1 will be the 16th building on the Gold Coast to hold the "tallest title" since the first highrise was built in 1957. for verticality. Surveyors ing buildings). then check the walls and "Prisms are columns using external con- permanently trol. This determines how attached to straight the structure is and surrounding whether there is a twist. buildings," Brian Rogers said: "When Brian Rogers plumbing, you get accumu- said. "These lative errors, and these are checked errors are exacerbated when using a Leica the cranes and hoist are TCR1101 with working. Crane hours are Automatic paramount on these sites, Target Recog- and everything is scheduled nition (ATR) around the crane so it's both day and not ideal for this type of night if (above): aerial view of the monitoring most of the time required." construction of Q1 in July 2003. during the construction." "This method (below): aerial view of the con- means we struction in December 2003. 'Radiation' surveying work from the Photos courtesy of Sunland whole to part Group In an attempt to overcome and it allows this problem, the so-called us to establish our stations (above): Surveyor, Brian Rogers 'radiation' surveying at the most convenient of Treasure & Associates uses a method was used. This position," said Rod Stead. Leica TCR1101 for monitoring on involves re-section with a "Using a one-second the Q1 construction site. free-standing total station machine with ATR means from the control network we can get results down to (some are ground marks a 10mm accuracy." and others are on surround- Bt

The Gold Coast is not only Australia's sixth largest (below): an artist’s view of the city, it is also the tourist mecca for the country with Gold Coast landscape when Q1 over four million domestic and international tourists construction is completed. visiting the city every year. Image courtesy of Sunland Group