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64 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
AU T UMN 20 1 7
AN ENLIGHTENING EXPERIENCE
F
rom its beginnings as just two
qualified electricians in 1999, Steven
Orr Electrical has grown to employ
a team of 10 skilled staff members who
live and work in the Echuca Moama district
of Victoria. The business recently won a
‘Highly Commended’ award in the ‘Lighting
Project’ category of the NECA Victoria
Excellence Awards. The award was for
the supply and delivery of light towers
and fittings to Echuca Vic Park Recreation
Reserve and Echuca South Oval.
“The Vic Park precinct is the main
football ground here in the Goulburn
Valley competition. It’s used by about
10 teams plus Auskick [an AFL coaching
program] as well as a secondary school
that uses it as its sporting oval. There’s
even a couple of netball courts. It’s the
primary sporting hub in the shire of
Campaspe,” says Steven Orr.
The upgrading of lighting at Echuca
Vic Park Recreation Reserve and Echuca
South Oval – which included the design,
supply and delivery of sports lighting
towers, and the removal of old light towers
– was a public tender formatted by the
Campaspe Shire Council and was awarded
based on points criteria, which outlined
specific outcomes.
On winning the tender, Steven Orr
Electrical commenced work in late March
of 2015 and managed to complete the job
within six weeks – no small feat for an
outfit with just seven guys on the tools.
“We had done some bowling green
and tennis court lighting prior to this but
we hadn’t really had a crack at a project
of this size. We supplied and installed
lighting towers to three brightness levels:
50lux, 100lux and 300lux. This gives user
groups the ability to use the facilities
in any capacity from training through
to game day as per the AFL country
standards. We also installed a Halytech
Illuminator floodlight control and
facility monitoring system which allows
authorised users to control lights with
their smart phones,” says Steven.
Within just four days the teamwas able
to dismantle the existing lighting before
constructing, assembling and erecting four
poles and a total of 72 lights. They also
supplied and installed underground cabling
to the four pole locations with minimal
impact on the site thanks to underground
horizontal boring.
During the works, the site had to remain
closed to multiple user groups including
schools, sporting bodies and the general
public. The grounds being the main hub for
exercise and sporting activities in the town
heightened the importance of completing
the job as quickly as possible.
Before they started the work, Steven
and his team had to communicate with
all the different user groups to make
sure they were all aware the site was
going to be closed down for a period
of time. They were able to coordinate
access for short periods to try and keep
everyone happy (rather than just lock the
site down for six weeks).
As it turns out, coordination (and not
just of user groups) proved to be one of the
project’s major challenges.
STEVEN ORR ELECTRICAL
RECENTLY COMPLETED AN AWARD-
WINNING LIGHTING JOB AT ITS
LOCAL SPORTSGROUND. STEVEN
CAUGHT UPWITH
JACOBHARRIS
FOR A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT.
The Vic Park precinct is the main football ground in the Goulburn Valley competition. It nowmeets AFL country standards for lighting.
SHOWCASE