Dalby Hospital – Subfloor Scan

Road & Civil Surveys was engaged to complete an accurate survey model beneath the main building at Dalby Hospital in regional Queensland. The original building dates to the late 1970s, and existing as-built documentation was incomplete and unreliable — restricting the design team’s ability to progress redevelopment and remediation planning.

Dalby Hospital is operated by Darling Downs Health and provides emergency, maternity, medical, surgical and outpatient services to the Dalby community and surrounding Western Downs region. The hospital has undergone multiple stages of upgrade since its original construction, including a significant redevelopment of its emergency and maternity departments completed in 2008. With Darling Downs Health recently issuing tenders for future infrastructure planning at both Dalby and Warwick hospitals, accurate spatial data of the existing facility is critical to informing the next phase of investment.

The scope required detailed capture and modelling within a 500mm crawl space beneath the hospital’s suspended slab, including the underside of the slab, thickening beams and columns, finished surface levels, all visible services, and any structural anomalies that could impact the design.

The 500mm clearance beneath the hospital eliminated any possibility of conventional survey methods. Personnel could not physically enter or work within the crawl space, and traditional laser scanners could not be positioned at a low enough profile to capture the environment.

Road & Civil Surveys deployed our in-house Mini LiDAR Rover — a purpose-built, low-profile mobile LiDAR platform designed specifically for confined and restricted-access environments. The rover was driven through the crawl space remotely, capturing high-density point cloud data across the full 12,000 square metre subfloor area.

• The Mini LiDAR Rover captured the complete subfloor environment including the underside of the suspended slab, thickening beams, columns, finished surface levels and all visible services.
• Structural anomalies and variations from the original design intent were identified and recorded within the point cloud data.
• Field acquisition was completed in a single day by a one-person crew, with no disruption to hospital operations above.
• Data was processed into an accurate, coordinated digital as-built model within one week, providing reliable spatial information for engineering assessment, remediation scoping and digital twin integration.

Key Outcomes

Access to the Inaccessible — A 500mm crawl space that could not be physically entered by survey personnel was fully captured using the Mini LiDAR Rover, delivering complete spatial data from an environment that would otherwise have required destructive investigation or remained unmapped.

12,000m² in a Single Day — The entire subfloor area was captured in one day by a one-person crew, demonstrating the efficiency of the rover platform in confined space environments.

Zero Disruption to Hospital Operations — All data capture was completed beneath the building with no impact on patient care, clinical services or hospital staff above.

Design-Ready As-Built Model — The coordinated digital model provides the design team with reliable spatial information to progress redevelopment planning, remediation scoping and digital twin integration with confidence.

Structural Anomaly Identification — Variations from the original construction and structural anomalies were identified and recorded, giving engineers early visibility of issues that could affect the redevelopment design.

Project Snapshot

• 12,000m² Subfloor Area Captured
• 500mm Crawl Space Clearance
• 1 Day Field Acquisition
• 1 Person Crew

Services Delivered

• Confined space LiDAR survey using Mini LiDAR Rover
• High-density point cloud capture in restricted-access environment
• Subfloor structural mapping (slab, beams, columns, services)
• Structural anomaly identification and recording
• Coordinated digital as-built model production
• Digital twin-compatible deliverables