Wednesday, December 4, 2013

2013 December-- work in the park

December 2013


News snippet:



  In June someone dumped a load of white tiles
in the park next to the parking area.
Elizabeth and Volcar took them to the dump
..........................................................................................

Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary dam wall

When Peter and Volcar  cleared the mud away , this
huge hole was then visible.
It was cleaned out and 14 wheelbarrow loads of cement
were rammed into the hole.



 That looks better, and looks strong enough to hold
for a good few years.
..................................................................................


 Bird Sanctuary hyacinth regrowth

Day One

From the bird hide this channel full of hyacinth
 was all too visible.

Ian almost at the landing area with a boatload.
The haul for day one --
quite impressive for only two people!

Day Two


Ian and Aleksandra tipping the excess
water out the boat.

The bigger pile after day two


Our two boat cars!

Another island of weed to remove!

After three days.
Now the last few will have to wait until next year.
....................................................................................

Treefall

Sunday 15th December
This huge gum tree came down after a storm
and blocked Road No 3

The following day it was all cut up
and the road open again
. Well done City Parks
..................................................................................

Sinkhole


This sinkhole appeared in the bottom dam wall


Peter and Wilson cleaned it out.
and started  filling and compacting the soil

 
Almost filled!


All done and it was fine after 40mm of rain

That's all for this year!

 

Wishing you all a wonderful Festive Season and a very Happy New Year!


Sunday, July 21, 2013

2013 JULY - Repairing Scout Lane

In June 2013 the lane project got under way.

Tom Harrison  wanted to repair the eroded lane between the Bird Sanctuary and the Scout area.
He contacted Peter Hammond and I, to discuss it.


Tom had access to waste gunnite 'droppings' - the ideal material.
 

The first task was to level the lane.
Many wheelbarrows of soil were brought up from a dumped heap 300 meters away  --very  heavy work!!
                                                              

The cycle clubs advised us how to put barrier poles in to slow the cyclists down. Peter and Shepherd dug the holes and placed them.


The first delivery of gunnite 'droppings '


Volcar mixing cement into the "droppings"

                                                        
The first layers down and our warning sign
 

Daily the new path progressed 


Well done Tom and Peter  --  the finished lane
 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

2013 April. Cosmos, hyacinth, paving

       

      Cosmos



In March the cosmos along Bantam Drive was in full splendour

The Parking area

We had been given some interlocking bricks to repair the parking area so Peter got started---

             
  Before......


The edge bricks were placed


Then the interlocking bricks were laid --
it's looking better...


Sand on top and ready for cars to test drive it.

Bottom Dam 


We had been putting this job off but in April
 Elizabeth and I knew we had to clear the hyacinth.

 
We used the side of the boat and two ropes to tow the weed in.


6 hours work and all clear for another year.
 

Friday, January 4, 2013

Jan 2013 -blackjacks, repairs after concert, channel in lane, clearing top dam.

 December 2012 was a busy month for us.

 
Though decreasing, the blackjacks still needed cutting down.
 

All clear again -- at least for a few months.
 

This little grove of black wattle was pulled out -- roots and all!

 

Repairing the damage done during the concert       

                                                            
 Before

                                                                
The compacted mud road
                                            

The 80 square meters of grass arrived

                                                   
After digging the area over-
 

the laying of the grass began.



We put tape around so no one would walk on the new grass
and two weeks later -- all finished!
                                     

The lane and Top Dam

On New Year's Eve we had two jobs to do : 1) In the lane -- make the channel bigger and  put a bigger pipe in, as the smaller pipes couldn't take the flow of water

                                      
We started by clearing the outlet pipe of grass
                                        
 
                                       Making the channel wider                                         


and put a bigger pipe in,
                                      

                       The walling was placed on top of supports                                    


Pieces of brick walling were put at either side


Lots of soil and grass was put on top.
 

Top Dam


That was finished by lunchtime -- so off to top dam.
The plant with blue flowers -- not hyacinth, was blocking the outflow at the wall
                                               
 
The guys hauling chunks of it out.
It was surprisingly easy to remove         


This little bit was rooted and needed Peter's persuasion to move.
                                            

  All gone and the water could run freely.

                                                 
I wondered what this weighed -- a ton?

We finished eight hours before 2013!