Civil construction of Stages 1-3 has mostly been completed including roads, carparks, drainage, paths, services, stone walls and the dam crossing. Works to finalise the microgrid in Stage 3 should be completed at the end of April when switchboards have been delivered.
The dam crossing across the central dam was required to link the northern and southern sections of the Ecovillage and we needed to wait until the end of summer to empty the dam to enable the earthworks to be completed. The dam is now ready to fill up again as rainfall is starting and we will come back next season to complete the roadworks.
We have commenced the process to hand over roads to the Shire and we anticipate roads will be open to general public access toward the end of April.
After a career in public works engineering, it is a rare privilege to have the opportunity to plan, design and construct a new village from scratch. Thank you for entrusting us with establishing the infrastructure for your village and I look forward to seeing the built form and landscaping evolve in the coming months and years.
A 17kW solar array was installed to power the main irrigation pumps that will deliver water to tanks around the Ecovillage. The array powers an 11kW Grundfos pump. The power rating for the array is larger than the pump to extend the period of the day over which there is sufficient power to keep the pump operating at full capacity. This is the largest solar pump installed by Total Eden and Grundfos in the South West.
Construction of the sewerage treatment plant is underway with siteworks and installation of underground tanks completed. The buildings that will house treatment infrastructure and a laboratory have been commenced and the large 1ha treated water storage dam has been lined with heavy duty plastic.Feature stormwater swales, paths, stonewalls and garden beds have now been constructed in the village centre and landscape contractors have started to prepare soil for garden beds and turf.
The drainage basin behind the oval features some massive granite boulders that were unearthed when we were constructing the sewerage system. After breaking a couple of rock breakers, we decided it would be better to redesign the sewers and to incorporate the boulders as part of our stormwater treatment system.The oval has been given a final trim to level, compost has been mixed into the sand fill and irrigation pipes have been installed ready for turf to be planted in late April.
Village Homes Realty
