A contract has been awarded for two new plants to improve Australia’s eastern states’ dairy supply chain.

Engineering consultancy Pitt & Sherry will design two pasteurised milk processing plants for Australian dairy supplier Murray Goulburn Co-operative, the contracts were awarded this week.

The milk makers will put up $120 million into the development of a Greenfield processing plants at Laverton on the west side of Melbourne and another at Erskine Park in Sydney’s west.

The work will include conceptual building design, detailed design for all infrastructure, project management of the design and building process, construction management, construction administration, tender documentation and approvals processing.

Pitt & Sherry will use some innovative techniques to enhance the building process, including making virtual 3D walk-throughs to test facilities before construction.

The two sites are expected to be commissioned by mid-2014, each capable of churning out 150 megalitres of packaged milk per year.