Hospitals 20 October 2022

V-columns installed at the new Footscray Hospital

We’ve reached another milestone on the new Footscray Hospital, with the installation of the concrete V-columns.

The columns mark an exciting architectural milestone for this once-in-a-generation project for Melbourne’s west.

Each column is designed to support a load of nearly 6,000 tonnes – that’s the equivalent of over 1,400 elephants in weight!

Spanning over 13 metres high and weighing more than 90 tonnes, a total of eight V-columns have been installed across the site, with two columns supporting the 12-storey main hospital tower. They will also frame the front doors to the new hospital’s emergency department.

Accessible video transcript

IMAGES: Artist impression of frontage of the new Footscray Hospital showing V-columns.

IMAGES: Time lapse footage from the construction site shows the metal struts used to hold the large concrete V-columns, scaffolding being erected around them, and aerial views of large cranes installing concrete sections of the columns, with workers fixing them in place.

TEXT: A partnership slide has text ‘In partnership with Western Health (logo) and Plenary Health (logo)'.

IMAGES: The closing slide is the Victorian Health Building Authority logo, the web address vhba.vic.gov.au and the Victorian State Government logo.

End of transcript.

About the new Footscray Hospital

The new Footscray Hospital will replace the current hospital on Gordon Street, which was built in the 1950s.

The new hospital will support the increasing demand from Melbourne's western suburbs. It will have more than 500 beds, treat almost 15,000 more patients and allow almost 20,000 extra people to be seen by the emergency department each year. There will also be more outpatient, mental health, palliative care and surgical services.

Construction is underway at the site on the corner of Geelong and Ballarat Roads. The new hospital is set to open in 2025.

Learn more about the new Footscray Hospital via our dedicated project page.