Industrial estate civil design 22 lot documentation.

Project overview

ASTCAD delivered civil engineering documentation for a new 22-lot industrial estate in Wodonga, VIC. The 31 ha site adjoined the Hume Freeway with arterial intersection access. Scope included internal road network, stormwater management, sewer and water reticulation, headworks coordination with Goulburn-Murray Water and detailed Tract A road dedication.

The challenge

The site straddled two flood-affected planning overlay zones with conflicting requirements. The intersection with the Hume Freeway needed VicRoads approval, and lot levels had to suit B-double truck access while staying above 1% AEP flood level.

Our approach

• Road network design to local industrial standard with B-double provision
• Stormwater management including 5 ML detention basin
• Lot-by-lot fill design to clear 1% AEP flood level + 500 mm
• Hume Freeway intersection treatment with VicRoads approval
• Sewer pump station design for downstream main connection

Deliverables

• Civil drawings (158 sheets)
• Flood study and impact assessment
• VicRoads intersection design and approval
• G-MW headworks correspondence and connection design
• Construction tender documentation

Outcome

The estate civil works completed in 14 months. The intersection upgrade was constructed under traffic with no major incidents. Six lots had pre-sold off the plan; all are operational as of late 2024.

How we approach industrial estate civil design

Industrial estate civil design is a balancing act between earthworks cost, drainage performance and lot yield. We start from the survey and geotech data, model the site in Civil 3D, and iterate bulk earthworks to minimise import and export while achieving pad levels that drain. Road design follows Austroads geometry with pavement design matched to expected heavy-vehicle traffic, and stormwater is designed for the council’s minor and major storm events with detention where discharge limits apply. Services corridors are coordinated early so water, sewer, power and communications do not fight for the same trench alignment at construction stage.

Civil documentation package

Deliverables typically include bulk earthworks plans with cut/fill exhibits, road plans and longitudinal sections, intersection details, stormwater drainage plans with catchment analysis and pit/pipe schedules, sediment and erosion control plans, and services coordination layouts. Drawings are issued for development approval first, then developed to construction issue with the conditions of approval incorporated — a two-stage rhythm that avoids redesign after council feedback.

Staging and approvals for estate development

Industrial estates rarely build in one hit, so our industrial estate civil design documents staging explicitly — which roads, drainage lines and services must exist for stage one lots to function, and how later stages connect without ripping up finished work. Approval strategy follows the same logic: we structure the documentation so operational works approvals can be sought per stage, keeping early lots moving to market while later stages remain flexible. Interface details between stages get particular drafting attention, because a temporary drainage outfall or turning head designed carelessly becomes a permanent liability when stage two stalls for five years.

We take industrial estate projects from due-diligence servicing assessments through operational works documentation to construction-phase support. If you are weighing up a site acquisition, an early civil feasibility review — earthworks balance, drainage constraints and services availability — is inexpensive insurance against buying a site whose development costs kill the project.