Northern Grampians Shire Council: Stawell Linkage Project
Posted under: Stawell is the capital town of Northern Grampians Shire which is situated in western Victoria nearly 234km from Melbourne along the Western Highway. The Stawell Township itself house for around 6000 people.
The Project comprised of Rehabilitation works for the old public toilets and shop front at 108, Main Street and the Construction of a new steel roof shelter for the existing walk way located between Bayliss Street and Church Street Car parks in the township of Stawell. Because of these projects the community is now enjoying the service of energy efficient, well facilitated and luxurious toilet blocks and well shaded walk way shelter.
1. Use of Best Practice Techniques and Technologies
The toilet blocks and the shop at 108, Main Street had been in poor condition and left unattended over a decade. In order to repair and reinstate these facilities, sound engineering practices and technologies were used to overcome the hassles intervened during the construction phases.
Particularly, the construction area was between the adjoining shops which were running their businesses in full swing at the time of construction. So, careful consideration was given and best engineering techniques were incorporated in order to mitigate the noise level and vibrations and to suppress the dust produced from the work activities and thus cause minimal nuisance to the community.
It was identified during the inspection that some of the footings stumps were decayed very badly and the strength of secondary support structures was also not adequate to bear the suspended slab load and the future live loads. So a new design was drafted by a qualified structural engineer conforming to the Australian Codes and Standards (AS 3600:2001) in order to make the foundation structurally sound, most economic and cost effective.
There were instances where the shire had been suffering from prolonged draught during the past. So, in order to optimise the water usage in the toilets during its future operation, water sustainability techniques were incorporated in the design and construction of the plumbing and sanitary works.
Energy efficiency in the toilet blocks were taken into consideration in order keep the building “Green”. Sky lights were installed on the roof of the toilet blocks with ventilation facilities and low energy LED lights were used to light up the buildings during night time.
Council’s Cultural Heritage Policy was a key concern during the planning stage of the new toilet blocks and shop front and that was successfully adopted in the design and construction of the buildings in order to preserve the heritage value of the area.
The walk way shelter at 109, Main Street was constructed as an all-weather access route for the community who are willing to travel from Bayliss street to the Church Street Car parks and vice versa. The color of walk way shelter roof and the material for the steel structure roof were carefully selected by specialists in a way to blend with the natural beauty of the surroundings and not to confront the heritage value of the area.
Very good Engineering principles were used to undertake the projects in an environmentally friendly manner in the following ways.
- The construction wastes were properly collected in different bins according to the type of wastes such as recyclable, chemical and harmful and etc. and disposed from the construction area appropriately.
- Special care was given to the removal disposal of Asbestos during the demolition stage in accordance with the Section 02150 (Asbestos Removal) of Wendy Jacobs Architectural Specification
- The waste water from the construction area was screened and treated before letting it to the public drainage.
- Dust suppression methods were used during the construction phase such as wetting of the construction area during any excavation works or concrete breaking works or carrying out the dust creating works such as wood sawing or tile cutting or welding works in ventilated enclosures or off-site construction area.
- Noise reduction techniques were implemented by prefabricating the steel structures off-site of the construction area and thus minimise the amount of noise making activities such as cutting, hammering and fitting of steal members on-site.
2. Degree of Originality and Ingenuity of Solution
In the past, the toilet facilities and the shop front were lastly renovated back in 1970s. After that, there were not much notable maintenance activities undertaken. Previously, there were only two toilet blocks in the Central Business District (CBD) which was utterly inadequate to serve the growing numbers of shoppers and communities in the CBD. Further, the facility have been experienced poor lighting, congested access especially for people with disability, and decayed footing stumps and other unsound structural issues.
The old ramp from the Bayliss Street side was a substandard one and that was not complied with the Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DPI) Regulations. On top of that, the building itself was recorded under Cultural and Heritage Register. So, the long lasting of a heritage building would be in question if it were left without any rehabilitation maintenance. In addition, the community find it very difficult to cross through the open walk ways especially during rainy days and hot summer days. Because of these issues, there was a necessity arose to rehabilitate the buildings and walk ways. During the planning, design and construction phases of the projects, some innovative ideas and inventive solutions were found out and implemented for the successful completion of the project.
Ventilated skylights with LED lightings and the usage of recycle water in the toilet facilities are considered as the innovative ways to make the facilities to run with minimal operating cost in the long run and thus make it environmentally friendly.
The topography of the area is very complicated to construct the ramps according to the DPI requirements. However, inventive solutions were made in the design and construction phase of the ramp in order to comply with the DPI regulations.
Specialist ideas and Heritage consultants advises were sought in the rehabilitation of the buildings and the construction of walk ways in order to preserve the heritage value of the structures.
The budget allocated for the project was very limited; but unfortunately unexpected foundation issues were identified during pre-construction inspections. However, these hindrances were easily overcome by immediate economic and innovative solutions.
3. Program and Project Management
The stated project was undertaken to provide an excellent and energy efficient toilet facilities for the community in the CBD and to provide a shaded walk way for the commuters in the CBD. Wendy Jacobs was the Architect & Heritage Consultant, TGM Group Pty. Ltd was the Structural Engineer, Onleys Holdings Pty. Ltd. was the Plumbing and Building Contractors and Northern Grampians Shire Council was the Client for the project.
The estimated cost of the project was $520, 000 but however due to the unexpected issues encountered during construction, the actual cost was slightly elevated to $553,456. The $160,000 was provided from Local Government Infrastructure Funding and another $240, 000 was funded by Department of Planning and Community Development. The balance amount and the budget excess were taken from 2012-2013 council budget. The Construction period was nearly eight months where the construction started in September 2012 and the Certification of Occupancy was issued in April 2013.
During the construction period, the toilet facility services for the shoppers around the CBD were interrupted; so toilet facilities were arranged near the Church Street with clear directional arrow markings.
Safety of the shoppers and people, moving around the construction area was a primary concern. So required management actions were implemented to ensure the safety of the commuters near the working areas. Further, community consultations and interaction programs with nearby business owners were also undertaken to mitigate the public inconvenience during construction.
Noise and dust were the key concern during the construction period since those might adversely affect the people who were moving around the area. So, Management took necessary actions to mitigate the effects those nuisance factors.
Each and every stage of the construction was carefully planned and implemented. Hold points were identified and the inspections were undertaken and signed off by qualified persons before the project moves to the next stage. This is to make sure that the construction activities and the materials used are compiled to the specifications and standard regulations.
Since the project was carried out with budget constraints, management pay careful attention in each and every phase of the project to keep the costs within the allowable limit while not compromising the quality of the works and project time frames.
4. Benefit of the Project or Service to the Community
Indeed the Project is very successful one since it achieved the prime goals to what that was originally planned for. The benefits of the project to the community are mentioned below.
- Now the shoppers and business owners and the community in CBD are enjoying the facility of modernised and energy efficient toilet facilities.
- The commuters from Bayllis street to Church street car park are gifted with a shaded walk way without drenching in the rain or affecting by hot sun.
- One of the remarkable Heritage Assets in the shire is saved and preserved from deterioration due to the rehabilitation works.
- The disable people also get the access to utilise the new toilet blocks because of the well-designed ramps at Bayllis Street side.
- One more shop space is created for a new entrepreneur which in turn will enhance the business facilities in the CBD of Stawell.
- Council is now provided with an asset with low maintenance and operating cost (toilet facilities) which has a life span of nearly 20years. That will have a positive impact on the future annual budgets.
5. Presentation of the Award or Submission
- Stawell linkage project is linking the Bayllis Street and Church Street car parks in the CBD region and provide an appropriate access and necessary services to the local community;
- Stawell Linkage project consist of two major works; one of the works is the renewal of public toilet and business hub facilities at 108 Main Street, Stawell and the other is to build a specific design shaded walkway at 109 Main Street, Stawell;
- The public toilet and hub facility have been upgraded as a modern, energy efficient, extended functional, more amenable, and cost effective operational facility by the support of RDV $240,000 and LGIP $120,000. The actual expenses of the project is $394,283 and the overspent money was contributed by the Council;
- The walkway was specifically designed to blend in with the natural beauty of the Grampians and the local heritage value of the area. The project was supported by LGIP $160,000 and the actual expenses of the project was $169,900, the overspent money was contributed by the Council;
- Both projects are well received by the local community; and
- Utilisation of the community hub has exceeded expectations because of the useability of the facility.