Needs + challenges

Australia’s leading supplier of decorative timber, Porta stands as testament to over 90 years of excellence in the Australian timber industry. When their Bridgewater plant needed new warehousing and sawmill facilities, Bison was considered “the obvious choice”. According to Tasmanian Operations Manager, John Meehan, Porta valued our methods and technology for lifting structures into place, which proved to be safe, quick and cost-effective. The Porta team needed a warehouse for dry material being sent on to Victorian factory. Priorities were an open design, access from different sides, height and
flexibility. For the sawmill, priorities were achieving the optimal space and layout for equipment, as well as speed of construction – to be up and running as quickly as possible.

Success made simple

Porta Timber’s industrial warehouse and sawmill were custom-designed to achieve new efficiencies every day, with easy flexibility for future growth. A key advantage of the new warehouse space is the ability to bring a truck into the loading area for the first time. With the structure’s large span, a full Tautliner can be loaded inside out of the rain. The overall warehouse design has provided more versatility and capacity to respond to daily demands. The new sawmill is purpose-built to accommodate Porta’s large amount of equipment. It was installed and operational quickly and the Porta team appreciated our “active and consistent approach: in terms of putting the sheds up and getting the two
aligned”. John says construction went ahead without a hitch and safety was paramount at every step. Bison’s approach to building the shed from the ground enabled electricians to do a lot of pre-installation work, and John added that Bison worked well with – and helped coordinate – many other contractors, making the “project flow a lot easier”.