Review of prefabrication and volumetric mining structures: Current practice, challenges, and future prospects

Prefabricated construction continues to gain popularity in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Prefabrication developed into non-volumetric assembly and then into volumetric construction. Whilst volumetric construction reduces project risk by providing a safer, certain, and sustainable construction approach, it is not without its challenges, specifically the ability to transport oversized volumetric structures to remote Australian locations. It is yet to be accepted as a mainstream construction practice. While the evolution of volumetric construction continues to be a source of interest, more literature on structural volumetric construction within the mining sector is desired. This paper reviews various terminology used in industry and suggests unified terminology for industry participants, including those in the mining sector. The review considers the benefits of prefabricated structures at remote locations in Australia in terms of safety, productivity, quality schedule, cost and sustainability. The perceived challenges are reviewed in terms of planning, sea transportation and road transportation. The paper concludes by proposing an alternative to overcome the challenges and the construction requirements that require consideration.