Uploaded on 2015-06-13 by SteveWallace

In order to allow major new buildings to be constructed on the Canberra Hospital campus (Australia), existing surface parking on the sites destined for development had to be re-located into a new 8-storey carpark - which therefore needed to be constructed first. Tenders received for the carpark lifts (US: elevators) were from local companies which manufactured the lifts in the parent company's country. The contract was awarded to ThyssenKrupp, who would manufacture in Germany. The lifts could be manufactured efficiently and effectively in the ThyssenKrupp factory, however there would be a delivery time lag as they would have to be transported by sea from Hamburg to Sydney. As the fitting tolerances are required to be precise, the carpark lift shafts needed to be constructed early, so that dimensions could be confirmed before manufacture of the lifts could commence. (As a result, installation of the lifts was on the so-called "critical path" of the construction program - an item that, if late, would delay completion of the carpark. Of course, the carpark itself was on the wider critical path for the re-location of parking and thence commencement of construction of other buildings.) As lift manufacture is a highly skilled task needing expensive factories, and shipping is the cheapest form of bulk transport, this is one good example of the global economy at work. I have included two recent photographs of one of the lifts. For the record, the carpark opened in time in early 2011, in order to allow other construction contracts to commence. I worked on this project. ![enter image description here][2] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1434192863978201.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1434194869121932.jpg