IDEA StatiCa Announces Cresco Australia as the Featured Company of the Month

Cresco Australia provides high-quality engineering design and project management services in a technically-sound, efficient, and cost-effective manner. Since 2021, Cresco Australia has successfully completed over 400 projects, many of which have been constructed to the highest standards of quality and efficiency.

From nuclear power plants to world-class sporting stadiums and iconic large-scale bridges, they have the capability and expertise to work on a wide range of complex and critical projects.

Notable Projects by Cresco Australia

Busabout Wagga Wagga Depot

The Busabout Wagga Wagga depot represents a landmark investment in regional public transport infrastructure.

The facility consolidates operations, maintenance and administration into a single purpose-built complex, designed and delivered by Cresco Australia under an end-to-end engineering, design, project management and construction engagement.

Engineering Challenges

The transport facility presented a series of complex structural engineering challenges uncommon for typical industrial projects in regional NSW.

The project incorporated multiple steel-framed structures with varying load paths, from portal frames in the workshop to cantilevered canopies.

Key challenges include:

• Haunch-to-column and rafter connections subject to high bending moments
• Baseplates requiring uplift and racking resistance under wind load combinations
• Bracing nodes with multiple intersecting members, often non-orthogonal

Each connection required verification against AS 4100: Steel Structures, while ensuring constructability and fabrication efficiency.

Given the modular nature of the steelwork, maintaining repetition without compromising compliance was critical.

Overly conservative connection assumptions risked excessive plate thickness and unnecessary stiffeners, driving up fabrication time and cost.

The depot layout required tight coordination between architectural, civil and mechanical teams, particularly where service penetrations, crane loads and drainage intersected with structural elements.

Ensuring seamless alignment between disciplines was essential to avoid conflicts in fabrication and installation.

Cresco adopted a model-based, digitally integrated workflow where they used a combination of software including Space Gass, Revit, IDEA StatiCa and TEKLA structures. This approach allowed Cresco Australia’s engineers to maintain a single source of truth across models, seamlessly moving from conceptual framing to detailed connection verification.

Key Joints Modelled in IDEA StatiCa

Conclusion

“IDEA StatiCa helped to reduce plate thickness by approximately 20%. This improved ease of fabrication and construction costs. Also, we were able to eliminate unnecessary stiffeners, which simplified assembly and welding. IDEA StatiCa models clearly visualized load transfer paths and connection behaviour. IDEA StatiCa proved invaluable in streamlining our connection design process and ensuring every detail met both structural requirements and constructability considerations,” said Isaac Mannion, Commercial Projects Team Lead, Cresco Australia.

“BuildingPoint Australia’s technical support helped ensure local compliance and workflow integration, enabling Cresco Australia’s engineers to import their global analysis from Space Gass directly into the connection verification environment. This not only reduced human error but also allowed real-time design iteration,” added Shane Lutze, Director, Cresco Australia.

Jan Valicek, Regional Director APAC, IDEA StatiCa, added, “With expertise in large-scale infrastructure projects across roads, rail, utilities, mining, and industrial sectors, Cresco Australia delivers innovative, sustainable, and efficient solutions across a wide range of sectors. We are glad to acknowledge them as our Featured Company of the Month.”