Construction of the USC Moreton Bay university campus at Petrie has moved into full swing with the arrival of a second crane on site.

The USC-branded crane stands at 39m and has a jib length of 75m and a maximum lift capacity at furthest reach of 4.2 tonnes.

It is servicing the southern end of the campus construction site, complementing a crane on the northern end that stands 48m tall, with a 50m jib length and a 4.4 tonne capacity.

The three-storey foundation building near Petrie railway station is being constructed by national private commercial builder Hansen Yuncken and will open in early 2020.

USC’s Chief Operating Officer Dr Scott Snyder said there were currently 90 workers on site, including concreters, crane operators, earth movers, electricians, form workers, plumbers, scaffolders and waterproofers.

“The two-tower crane set-up is to meet the construction program for the building and gives Hansen Yuncken the ability to work in multiple areas of the site simultaneously,” he said.

When complete, the foundation building will have 16,000 square metres of floor space and include laboratories, simulation spaces and a large open auditorium.

It has been designed to cater for rapid growth of the student population over the campus’s first three years.

The first intake of students, expected to be as many as 1,200, will have a choice of almost 50 study programs including business, education and computer science.

Funding for the USC Moreton Bay building was secured in 2017 through a $121million loan from the Commonwealth Government.

The campus, which will become the centrepiece of Moreton Bay Regional Council’s ‘The Mill at Moreton Bay’ development, is expected to reach a student population of 10,000 by 2030.