Introduction

At the moment, we only have a couple of trucks running. Most of the trucks are scheduled to arrive with the quarry material tomorrow.

Just now, we received a second delivery, and we’re currently working on the driveway access. The goal is to ensure the trucks don’t get stuck—especially since we’re dealing with sand.

My business partner is operating the skid steer, while I’m inside the roller preparing the surface. We’re close to rolling out the driveway now. At the same time, one of our team members is applying water to help the material compact properly. This makes it easier to form a smooth, stable ramp that will provide access to the site—so we don’t have to push trucks out afterward.

In short, this is all about building the platform and access we need to get into the site safely and efficiently.

General Progress Update

Here’s a quick progress update since the last one. So far, we’ve had about 60–70 cubic meters of Type 2.3 CBR 45 delivered. You can see the pink dots here—those are spot levels we’ve taken during the set-out.

We’re installing a 150 mm thick layer. The points you see represent the finished level for that 150 mm depth. And that’s roughly what 70 cubic meters looks like—there isn’t a huge amount once it’s spread out. After this, I’ll jump back in the roller and compact it properly.

Arborist update

The other thing I forgot to mention is that we had the arborist onsite on Monday. They’re preparing a report to help us keep the tree healthy and happy.

The blue line you can see running over the top is where the sheet piling will go through the tree area. In their recommendation, they said we need to expose all the roots here, then cut them cleanly using sharp shears before the sheet piling is installed. The aim is to cut everything back as neatly as possible to help prevent fungal or bacterial growth from working back into the root tubers.

After that, the sheet pile will be installed, and then we’ll backfill with soil that the arborist specifies. They also recommended drilling into the ground and injecting nutrients. We’ll need to keep doing that periodically based on their program to give the tree the best chance of remaining healthy.

There are never any guarantees with trees—but as people say, sometimes they’re like weeds and bounce back. Other times, it really depends on the conditions and the day-to-day outcomes.

What’s next

That’s the progress update. Tomorrow is the bigger day. We didn’t get as many trucks as we wanted today, but we are a bit ahead overall. Tomorrow will be a full day, with trucks running every 25 minutes—spreading the material, because we need to complete the first layer and then place the second layer on top.

We’ve got a lot to get through tomorrow, so it’ll be a big one. The machine is also booked off-hire at 12:00 PM on Friday, which means we have until 11:00 AM Friday to finish the work.

After that, the geotech will return. They’ll carry out more DCP tests and certify that the slab has reached the required bearing capacity.

That’s the update.