The $689 million redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital is progressing with construction works scaling up to prepare the Liverpool Street forecourt for the installation of a temporary inpatient facility.

A 130 tonne crane is now onsite with the assembly of the first of the external emergency evacuation stairwells to begin today and the glass canopy to be removed.

The construction of the steel supporting structure and second stairwell at the southern end of the forecourt will follow over the coming weeks.

With a project of this scale inevitably there will be disruptions and we ask Tasmanians for their patience while these important works occur. Our aim is to improve the delivery of healthcare for all Tasmanians and the wait will be worth it. 

To minimise disruption to the hospital, the temporary facility's modules are being built off site and are planned for installation at the end of February.

The sculptures attached to the hospital's main entrance have been removed for safe keeping during construction in the forecourt.

The erection of the temporary inpatient facility is a requirement for the continued progress of this major re-development.

The decanting plan is a prerequisite for the old B-Block facility to be demolished and the new inpatient precinct K-Block to be built in its place.

K-Block will create around 300 direct jobs on the construction site and many more indirect jobs, while the total RHH project is injecting around $1.6 billion into the Tasmanian economy.

20 Jan 2016