July 2-5
Progress brings a change of activities. The focus has now firmly shifted to the Schoolhouse Bridge wash wall and Phase 3.
Although there was no lining and blocking scheduled this time, a prep day before the main work party started on Friday still proved valuable. Further excavation and spoil removal to the heap in the compound was carried out, primarily from the wash wall site. This allowed for final setting out and levels to progress smoothly on Friday and by Saturday, the task of installing shuttering for the footings began.
The wash wall will run for approximately 44 metres, extending either side of the bridge hole, and will be constructed using a proprietary system of dry-joint, hollow interlocking blocks. Horizontal and vertical rebar will run through the wall and once assembled, the wall will be filled with pumped concrete. However, we are getting ahead of ourselves – the task this time was to prepare the footings which include two layers of mesh and incorporates the vertical rebar. There were a number of details to puzzle through: footings are at three different levels to accommodate reclaimed coping stones of three different heights and a method for keeping the vertical rebar correctly aligned and held upright prior to pouring concrete for the footing needed to be determined. Excellent progress was made – by the end of the work party, the system had been developed and finessed. All being well, the footing shuttering and steelwork should complete next month.
In addition to the working on the wash wall, strong numbers of volunteers attending on Friday and Saturday enabled two further work groups to be established. In Phase 2, rip rap and soil, which covers the liners above block level, was completed for the last remaining 20 metres of lined channel – always a laborious job. There are a further 30 metres of channel in Phase 2 that can be lined before the compound access point is reached. This month, some progress was achieved in profiling this remainder, in between other tasks. It will be completed before the autumn, as time permits.
However, in Phase 3 – the length between Schoolhouse Bridge and Malthouse Bridge – dramatic progress was achieved. Joined by five corporate volunteers from Aico on Friday, vegetation clearance along the entire 340 metre length was completed by Saturday afternoon. A handful of thickets remained untouched as potential nesting sites. These, and some remaining trees growing up the channel banks, will now wait till September before being removed prior to site strip.
Plenty more odd jobs were undertaken, including a new lick of paint for the welfare cabin.