floors and will rise from a four-storey podium.
A striking design feature will be the external vertical columns of structural precast concrete these columns projecting beyond the outer face and creating a fluted effect. This will eliminate the
Melbourne's circular tower and podium
need for internal columns and will help to reduce sun glare. Special fully reflective solar window glass will provide additional protection against the sun's
rays.
The architect and engineers are D. Graeme Lumsden of Melbourne, and the quantity surveyors are Rider Hunt and Partners, Melbourne.
Prague prestressed concrete congress
Details of the International Congress of the Federation Internationale de la Precontrainte (The International Federation on Prestressed Concrete) to be held in Prague from 6-13 June 1970 have now been published. Copies can be obtained either from FIP Congress Secretariat, P.O. Box 107, Praha 6 - Dejvice, Czechoslovakia, or from Federa- tion Internationale de la Precontrainte, Terminal House, Grosvenor Gardens, London S.W.1.
During the Congress technical sessions will be of four different types. Special lectures by eight eminent engineers will cover many aspects of re- search, design and development in prestressed con- crete; reports of the FIP Commissions will be pre- sented and discussed; a number of working sessions will be devoted to reports from member groups of outstanding prestressed bridges, buildings and other structures; finally a new feature for the pro- gramme of the Prague Congress is the introduction of sessions devoted to brief technical contributions on any aspect of prestressed concrete which will be presented by delegates.
Lectures will include: 'Fatigue and breakdown of class III structures', by R. Baus, Belgium; 'Float- ing and submerged structures in prestressed con- crete', by B.C. Gerwick, Jr., USA; 'Composite
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structures of prestressed concrete and structural steel', by Y. Guyon, France; 'Prestressed concrete foundations', by Ch. Ostenfeld; 'Theory and re- search on thin-walled prestressed concrete beams', by V. Kristek, Czechoslavakia; 'Shear and torsion in prestressed concrete', by F. Leonhardt, Ger- many; 'Triaxially stressed members', by V.V. Mik- hailov, USSR; and 'Prestressed concrete subjected to extremes of temperature', by A.F. Milovanov, USSR.
Contract to build complete town
A consortium of three of Australia's biggest construction and home-building firms has been awarded a A$35 million contract to build the town of Nhulunbury, which will serve the A$308 million alumina-bauxite project on Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory.
The consortium comprises Dillingham Con- structions Pty. Ltd., Sydney, A.V. Jennings Indus- tries (Aust.) Ltd., Mebourne, and Mainline Con- structions Pty. Ltd., Sydney.
The town will be air-conditioned throughout and will have several multi-storey buildings. In- cluded in the contract are Government buildings totalling more than A$10 million. Among the buildings are a 64-bed hospital, nurses' quarters, a hangar with engineering facilities for the Aerial Medical Service, infant welfare centre/dental clinic, primary school with 21 classrooms, police station, court house, administrative building, hostel and 30 houses.
A total of 500 houses will be built initially by the consortium. It will also build 156 flats in 13 blocks, several blocks of bachelor flats, a shopping centre, club and community hall.
Treatment plant
Apart from the town, main building activity in the next three years will centre on stage 1 of the bauxite treatment plant which should be com- pleted in mid-1972. A general cargo wharf, accom- modating ships of 20,000 tons will be finished by June 1970, and a bulk cargo wharf for ships of 70,000 tons a year later. There will also be a tanker pier accommodating oil tankers of 60,000 tons.
Work has begun on the construction of a 112-kW power station costing more than A$14 mil- lion, the erection of power lines to Nhulunbury and the plant, and construction of a 12-mile over- land conveyor belt to carry the bauxite to the plant.
Gove Peninsula has known bauxite reserves of 250 million tons in an area of 75-80 sq. miles. Some raw bauxite will be exported, beginning in 1971-72, but in 1972-73 alumina will begin to flow to aluminium smelters overseas from the treatment plant at Gove.
The construction contracts have been let by Nabalco Pty. Ltd., manager for the Swiss-Austra- lian joint venture developing the reserves.
Far East BUILDER, March 1970