Mar 1, 2021
- Citywide Life
- Community Engagement
- Engineer
- People & Culture
The photos say it all. Messy little heaps of white ash where sturdy wooden viewing platforms once stood. The ghoulish limbs of charred gum trees flailing at the sky. Bare concrete foundations with screws loosened and twisted by the heat of a hellish inferno.
But if the ‘before’ photos present a picture of utter devastation, the ‘after’ photos of Mallacoota’s coastal boardwalks present a very different scene. Taken in many cases just a few months later, they show shiny new walkways and lookouts with galvanised steel balustrades, reinforced plastic decking, concrete stormwater pipes, and freshly-laid paths.
And the most encouraging sight of all: a handful of green shoots springing up among the scorched gums, carrying all the hopes of a new beginning.
For Citywide engineer Peter Biggs (left), this photographic record of last summer’s bushfires offers a personal reminder of one of the most emotional and rewarding tasks in his 40-year career.
“I’ve worked in many remote places, in the Northern Territory, for many years in Papua New Guinea, but this was a special experience that was up with the best of them,” says Peter. “I was working with amazing crews in some absolutely stunning locations that had burned all the way to the beach.
“It was heartening and upsetting and surreal and rewarding, all at the same time.”
In at the deep end
Although Peter was not in Mallacoota when the fires arrived on New Year’s Eve, like most Australians he watched in horror as the tragedy unfolded on his television. It was the memory of that horror which made him put his hand up when, just a few weeks later, East Gippsland Shire Council reached out to the City of Melbourne for help rebuilding its infrastructure.
“Someone at Citywide put my name forwards,” says Peter, “and to be honest, I couldn’t get there fast enough.”
Within days, Peter, 58, and his wife Leanne were on their way to Mallacoota, to assist East Gippsland Council with a variety of projects. Peter’s was to rebuild a dozen of the most popular boardwalks and lookouts that give visitors access to some of the most stunning views along this iconic coastline.
“These are vital facilities for thousands of visitors who come to Mallacoota each summer,” says Tom Weatherall, the council’s Manager of Assets and Projects. “The fact that we’ve just had a bumper tourist season, despite all the constraints of COVID, and had great feedback about all the boardwalks and viewing platforms says it all.”
With a repair bill nudging $1.5 million, the council committed to replacing the walkways and lookouts using only local ‘tradies’ and suppliers, and using a mix of fire-resistant hardwoods, stainless steel mesh, and fibre-reinforced plastic decking, which would give them the best chance of a long life. Balustrading recovered after the fires was refurbished and re-galvanised, plastic stormwater pipes replaced with reinforced concrete, disabled access was improved, and strict cultural protocols observed to ensure a positive outcome for the local Aboriginal community.
“Peter did a great job embedding himself in the community,” says Tom Weatherall. “He’s such an approachable guy, he was able to make a lot of strong connections very quickly and to achieve some fantastic outcomes. Everyone was amazed at how quickly the works were completed.
“Using local labour and materials not only delivered some short-term economic support to the area, but gave everyone involved a real sense of purpose and of being closely involved in the community’s recovery.”
Two months become ten
Peter says that he and Leanne had planned to stay in Mallacoota for 2-3 months, but the scale of the work pushed their visit out to nearly 10 months. “Because of COVID, Leanne was able to do her bookkeeping work remotely, which was a bonus in helping us stay together,” says Peter. “Plus our kids and partners had taken over our house back in Melbourne, so I think COVID did us a favour there as well!”
Peter, a senior project engineer on our City of Melbourne contract, was fortunate to have the support of the Melbourne Infrastructure Contract team, who “took up the slack” and covered his projects while he was away.
Working with 38 local carpenters, his team rebuilt 12 boardwalks and viewing platforms, including the popular Betka Beach Lookout and one of the platforms overlooking the iconic boat-ramp at Bastion Point. They also rebuilt 210 metres of Coull’s Inlet Walkway, which meanders along the pristine edges of Mallacoota Inlet towards Karbeethong.
“These are all iconic destinations which have deep cultural significance, as well as being important breeding grounds for birds and marine life,” says Peter. “So it was really important that we did the rebuilding in a sensitive way, and collaborated closely with the local community."
Volunteers from the local Friends of Mallacoota group were engaged to assist with weeding and replanting, and provided significant support with regard to the environmental impacts of the works and slope stabilisation through replanting.
“It was wonderful to see the land gradually come back to life, after being so black and dead-looking,” says Peter. “But above all, it was a really humbling experience. I was working with these young guys, many of whom had lost their own homes or were otherwise directly affected by the fires.
“It was traumatic at times, but country people are pretty resilient you know – compared to us city folks. I was amazed at how they put their heads down and just got on with it.”
Below: Peter and the crew rebuild Bastion Point Lookout (left) and Betka Beach Viewing Platform, with the green shoots of recovery punching through the scorched earth providing encouraging evidence of nature's amazing rehabilitation.
Media Contact:
Simon Mossman - Group Corporate Communications
M 0427 307 216
E simon.mossman@citywide.com.au
