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“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