RMA were engaged to undertake engineering and construction services for a major hatchery expansion in Allora, for one of Queensland’s largest poultry producers, Darwalla Group.
Originally opened in 2018, the Darwalla Hatchery has grown significantly to meet the rising domestic and international demand for poultry.
The upgrade involved a 4,759m2 expansion to the chicken hatchery, allowing the facility to double its capacity and hatch up to 2 million chicks a week, along with adding staff accommodation and offices.
RMA led the project through the Development and Detailed Design Phases, acting as principal consultant and lead engineers. Across these two project stages, our team undertook Project and Design Management, DA building design, civil, structural, surface water, traffic and hydraulic engineering.
During the pre-DA design phase, RMA undertook basic building design and operation layout to assist with early project coordination and planning.
Our team continued to drive the project throughout both construction phases, early earthworks in phase one and the main building expansion in phase two. Across both phases, RMA assisted with the EOI process and principal contractor selection process, RFI responses during construction, inspections during construction and facilitation of building approval and commissioning process.
By utilising internally developed BIM processes, we were able to collaborate and coordinate efficiently with all external consultants to meet the client’s needs. This process involved a central model for the consulting team to contribute to, allowing clash detections to be resolved earlier in the project.
Through the use of leading BIM practices, our Building Services team were able to resolve over 4,500 clash detections, helping to mitigate construction delays and reduce construction costs.