At the new Dubbo Clinical Education Centre, the timber is expertly treated by Carter Holt Harvey  Around four years ago, Australia's Federal Government funded Universities to provide clinical training schools in rural areas. The idea behind this push was to get doctors to do their internships out in the bush hospitals so that ultimately more doctors would choose to practice in these areas. The new Dubbo Clinical Education Centre is one such project, backed by the University of Sydney. Made up of multiple buildings and set in the harsh and termite prone environment of inland New South Wales, the project relied on treated LVL by Carter Holt Harvey, H2 treated Hyspan.
Bruce Litchfield was project manager on the job, based in Sydney University's facilities management office. According to Bruce the idea is to establish world-class facilities and train people in remote locations:"We've been fortunate that experienced professors at the University have elected to set up clinics and what's happened is that kids get to carry out procedures and practice medicine�experience they would not get in the city hospitals. The courses have been well taken up, with many volunteering and they will spend several years out in the bush." Due to the response to the project, the Dubbo Hospital is extending it. Originally the Dubbo School was just a collection of "borrowed rooms and shoe cupboards," says Bruce. The new buildings, started in May 2003, will house many of the resident students with six double and twenty single rooms available for accommodation in five buildings around a central courtyard. There are labs and seminar rooms, with training space for around 30 - 40 students per round. The Clinical Education Centre also includes administration buildings for the trainee doctors. The project site itself is adjacent to Dubbo Base and Private Hospitals. Designer Peter Yeh of Alasdair Macdonald Architects designed the buildings and Bob Chapman of Rawson Constructions tendered for and won the contract for the construction of the complex. It was the architect and the engineers from George Clark and Associates who specified the treated Hyspan for the job. H2 treated structural LVL is protected against infestation from termites and other insects. The lightweight product was treated to Hazard Level 2 with Light Organic Solvent Preservatives (known as LOSP) by Dindas Lew Australia. The treatment process provides the LVL with a termiticide that both repels termites or kills them if they eat the treated timber. Given the declining availability of termite resistant hardwoods and conservation concerns, treated plantation pine like Hyspan, has soared in popularity. Bob Chapman was pleased with this option for the Clinical Education Centre. "Using environmentally friendly plantation timber was an advantage. Our company like most companies these days is very conscious of the environment. And, in this case to do what the architect wanted to do, with the LVL, was practical too. The H2 treatment was important to give extra life to the timber." During construction the rafters were left exposed to some extreme weather conditions before the roofing was put over them: There was periods of rain followed by temperatures above 400C. Bob was pleased to note that there was minimal dimensional movement of the Hyspan. The other advantage was the lengths possible with Hyspan. The Hyspan was used as roof rafters in the large rooms at the Centre. The rafters single spanned over most of the buildings with the ceiling attached directly to the underside. The rafters provided good fixing that complied with all the requirements for plasterboard installation into JD4 material and so eliminated the need for battens. The LVL was easier to handle during construction of the roof. "We achieved good clean open spaces, large room areas with simple construction," says Bob. Again, using Hyspan with its long lengths also meant Bob could consider the environment. "You'd never get timbers that size in natural timbers. You don't want to be cutting down trees that size." The Dubbo Clinical Education Centre is now near completion and will soon be enticing many more young doctors out into the bush for the unique experience offered at the Centre. Of the total seven buildings, four are done with another three still under construction. The project has been well supported by the hospitals and by the Dubbo community, and by the environmentally friendly and reliable construction made possible by Hyspan H2 by Carter Holt Harvey. 
For further information contact:
Carter Holt Harvey
Phone: 1300 658 8...
Fax: 02 9468 5....
Web: www.chhwoodproducts.com.au
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