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65

“The biggest challenge was planning and

working to time frames. Like all big jobs,

waiting for materials to arrive was a big

issue. The poles were ordered through an

Australian company but they’re actually

manufactured in China so they came

across on a ship and of course there were

delays at the docks. Even getting the light

fittings on time was difficult because there

have been so many government grants for

sporting facilities around Australia.

“We also had to factor in that the

footings needed to be in for 28 days for

the concrete to cure completely before

we could stand poles on them. During

this time, you still need to be progressing

so you’re ready to go by the time the

concrete is ready.

“To get around these issues we pre-

cabled everything in the workshop and

then dropped it off on site – we were

always trying to keep one step ahead even

if we weren’t on site.”

Apart from issues with timing, Steven’s

team had to contend with the fact that

the site has been there for a long time.

There were demolished grand stands and

concrete slabs around the precinct and

while Steven was aware of their positions

it was hard to knowwhether they’d been

removed or not. This became an issue

when they were boring foundation holes

to the depths specified by the engineers.

“We were lucky that we didn’t have

too many issues with fill from previously

existing structures. We were on a sand

hill though, so that presented a few little

hiccups along the way.

“When we bored out the holes (which

were 6m deep and 1.5m round) the sand

would dry out and as soon as it did, it

would want to cave in. So from the time

the hole was drilled to the time we set

our rag bolt structure or our mesh in

the ground we virtually had to poor the

concrete straight away so we didn’t get

any infill from the surrounding dirt.”

One light tower had to be repositioned

so as not to impact spectator viewing. This

was moved to behind a popular viewing

area – a move that had no impact on the

light level requirements at ground level.

“The existing lighting layout had a

concrete pole in the path of view of

where the majority of spectators sit. So

we made a suggestion to the shire that

we try to relocate that pole without

compromising the design and the lighting

output. We actually installed it behind one

of the spectator sheds so that it doesn’t

impact on viewing and allows the Shire

to renovate or extend down the track

without much trouble.”

The new lighting has achieved 100%

ground coverage for optimised playing

performance by exceeding the average of

300lux per AFL country standards. The

brightness, lack of shadows, balance of

lighting is what is required to enable the

sports fields to be used for both playing

and training purposes. The playing

surface was divided into 15 metre grid

points to enable accurate commissioning

of each individual light fitting. Steven

and his team were also able to halve the

required spill lighting at surrounding

residential dwellings.

“Because there are so many user groups

down there it was really rewarding to

see the end result. We’ve had some really

positive feedback about it too; people have

said howmuch it’s improved the area.

“From our point of view it was great to

actually finish the job – sit back and have

a look at it and see what we achieved in

such a short timeframe. A lot of time and

effort that went into it: we were working

16 hour days just trying to make sure

we were ahead of schedule and ready

for the next day. The process itself was

fairly stressful but at the end of the day

it’s a terrific outcome for us and the user

groups in the shire.”

> Steven Orr Electrical

www.soelec.com.au