Archive for March 17th, 2006

Editorial Echoes: Thanks for the support

I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone who has been listening to and/or subscribing to Editorial Echoes through the first week for your support. I have been pleasantly surprised by the download statistics all week, and I’m very pleased to see Editorial Echoes currently ranked 17 in the Talk Radio category on iTunes. I have screenshots to prove it!
Editorial Echoes ranked 17 in its category on iTunes
(Click to enlarge)

Or accept my closeup
Editorial Echoes ranked 17 in its category on iTunes

Once again thankyou, and there will be another episode of Editorial Echoes on Monday morning.

Whilst on the subject of podcasts, Samuel’s Persiflage will be behind schedule this month in that it will be released after the 10th-20th of the month window. This has been caused by interview delays, and I will endeavour to have it online for you ASAP.

Samuel

10 comments March 17th, 2006 at 07:02pm

Campbell High School’s PE Classes Mend Their Ways

You may recall this post from nearly a month ago where I informed you of the unsafe manner in which Campbell High School‘s PE Classes were travelling to (and presumably from) the Civic Pool, with minimal, if any, teacher supervision and direction. As promised I sent a letter to the principal of Campbell High School, but I never received a reply.

None the less, the letter was received by the principal of Campbell High and once can only assume that meetings/directives ensued, as I was most pleased to see a Campbell High School PE Group heading back to Campbell High School from the pool in an orderly manner with clear teacher supervision and direction. This was this morning at about 11 o’clock as I was crossing the bridge over Coranderrk Street. I was very impressed to see the school group also utilising the bridge, and I gave the leading teacher an approving smile and “hello” as she passed. I also gave the teacher at the back of the group a smile, but he was focussing on the group and did not see me, which is fine as he was carrying out his job and fulfilling his duty of care.

Whenever possible I like to follow up my editorials where I raise concerns about issues to see if anything has changed, and if so I like to bring you the news, which is hopefully positive. I can assure you that I will be sending the principal of Campbell High School a very complimentary letter, thanking her for taking my concerns into account, and seeing that they were rectified. I am very pleased at this outcome, and am glad to see the public school system taking public concerns into account.

Well done Campbell High School!

Samuel

13 comments March 17th, 2006 at 04:05pm

Section 84 Construction Photos

On top of the old carpark between the City Markets and the old Griffin Centre is a new extension to the Canberra Centre which is currently under construction.

From the top of the City Markets carpark the construction looks like this.
Section 84 Construction from City Markets Carpark
Section 84 Construction from City Markets Carpark

Section 84 Construction from City Markets Carpark

Now from ground level, a sign advertising the expansion.
Section 84 Construction advertising sign

The construction is filled with “peep holes” around the side which enables people to see what is happening inside without being inside, this first photo isn’t very clear though.
Inside the Section 84 Construction

Looking down Bunda Street you can just see some peep holes and a lot parked vehicles and cranes.
Section 84 Construction along Bunda Street

And some from the peep holes. Note that it was a lot darker than the photos indicates, but the camera compensated for that. I did not use a flash.
Inside the Section 84 Construction
Inside the Section 84 Construction

Then I took a photo of two cranes, one from Bovis Lend Lease and the other from The Men From Marrs.
Cranes from Bovis Lend Leases and The Men From Marrs on Section 84

Another photo from a peep hole.
Inside the Section 84 Construction

More of the Section 84 construction from Bunda Street.
Section 84 Construction from Bunda Street
Section 84 Construction from Bunda Street

Some signs on a staff entrance.
Signs on Section 84 Construction

And more of the outside of the construction from Bunda Street.
Section 84 Construction from Bunda Street
Section 84 Construction from Bunda Street

And another one of inside the constructions.
Inside the Section 84 Construction

The Men From Marrs crane from near the base of the crane.
The Menn From Mars crane from near the foot of the crane

And then a photo of the construction work from Ballumbir Street.
Section 84 Construction from Ballumbir Street

Samuel

7 comments March 17th, 2006 at 03:30pm

Samuel’s Footy Tips

After my disasterous first round, hopefully I can do a bit better this weekend.

NRL Round 2
Bulldogs V Tigers
Eels V Warriors
Sharks V Broncos
Cowboys V Sea Eagles
Roosters V Storm
Dragons V Panthers
Raiders V Knights

Samuel

March 17th, 2006 at 11:21am

Underground Cabling Photographic Tour

As regular readers of this blog would be well aware from the recent coverage here, here, here & here, there is some underground cabling going on at Civic, to bring power to a new building which is currently under construction in Civic.

The cabling which runs from the Mount Ainslie substation down to the building in Civic, has been going on for quite some time, and they are finally up to pushing the cables through the conduit.

This map may be of some use in following this article
Map

I took these photos on Monday, and started from the CIT Campus on the corner of Coranderrk Street and Constitution Avenue, by walking up Coranderrk Street where a set of seemingly unrelated cabling is taking place.

Just before the intersection between Coranderrk and Doonkuna Streets is one of these points of cabling.
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street

There is some more near the corner of Coranderrk Street and Elimatta Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street

And again near the corner of Coranderrk Street and Limestone Avenue (in the background is Campbell High School, the red and white building).
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street
Underground Cabling on Coranderrk Street

This set of cabling does not obviously appear to connect to any other cabling, so where it goes to from here is a mystery. Although I may have stumbled upon the answer later on in the tour.

From here I made the journey to the Mount Ainslie Substation. Taking photos of major bits of infrastructure in a mildly concealed location does fall into the category of “suspicious activity” and with UEA (the cabling company) staff around, I decided that I should limit the number of photos that I took. The ones that I did take don’t show much, and I would have like to take some more from a better angle, but these will do. Here is one.
Mount Ainslie Substation

There is a lot of conduit floating about on Mount Ainslie at the moment.
Conduit on Mount Ainslie

From the point I was standing on for the last two photos, you can see two points of cabling holes in the ground, the trench path in the distance, the back of the substation sign on the left, and a UEA truck on the right.
Underground Cabling on Mount Ainslie

And another picture of the substation
Mount Ainslie Substation

Around this time an american tourist who was passing by asked me if I was a photographer and what I was photographing.

There is a sign for the substation (which ActewAGL call the “City East Zone Substation” and a sign informing us that the path we are using is a horse track).
Mount Ainslie Substation and Horse Track sign

There is also the back of a sign owned (and marked as such) by Cord Excavations. They have put their phone number (6260 2166) on it, presumably so that if it is lost, and you find it, you can ring them and they can pick it up.
Sign owned by Cord Excavations

And of course I was on the edge of the Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve, which also has a sign.
Mount Ainslie of Nature Park

Here is one of the many cabling holes, featuring one cable and three streams of conduit, which is fairly normal for the current progress of the cabling.
Underground Cabling on Mount Ainslie

And more conduit.
Conduit on Mount Ainslie

And much more conduit with a UEA truck.
Conduit and UEA Truck on Mount Ainslie

It would appear that a trench was dug from the substation to the first road along the path, and from that point on Horizontal Directional Drilling was used. The trench (which has now been dug over) can be clearly seen here.
Underground Cabling on Mount Ainslie

Further down we have another cabling hole.
Underground Cabling on Mount Ainslie

And some of the nature reserve.
Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve

From here you can see the under-construction building, the eventual destination of the cables.
Under Construction Building as seen from Mount Ainslie

Shortly after this two ActewAGL vans passed by and I took a photo of one.
ActewAGL Van on Mount Ainslie

They then stopped up at the previously photographed hole and started working around there.

Then we have another hole, the first one along the Horizontal Directional Drilling.
Underground Cabling in Ainslie

And another one
Underground Cabling in Ainslie

Then there is one down at the corner of Batman Street and Limestone Avenue
Underground Cabling on the corner of Batman Street and Limestone Avenue

Two UEA trucks turned up around this time and the occupants gave me strange looks, so I didn’t take further photos of that particular hole and went on to the next one, which looks like this.
Underground Cabling on Limestone Avenue

It would appear that UEA are using Skippy Bins to store their dirt.
Skippy Bin

Then we have the hole which turns from being parallel with Limestone Avenue, to go under Limestone Avenue and become parallel with Allambee Street.
Underground Cabling on Limestone Avenue
Underground Cabling on Limestone Avenue
In that last photo you can see a fourth conduit, which appears to head in the general direction of Coranderrk, which makes it looks like they are giving that line of cabling a new feed, instead of using whatever feed they were using previously, which was quite possibly the same feed which services Campbell High School. Presumably they will split one of the cables into two so that it can feed Coranderrk Street.

On Allambee Street the holes on a block where things are a bit more likely to get thrown in by residents have been dug over.
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street

By this time it is possible that I had attracted attention for taking photos of all this cabling, and a government car pulled up and the occupant appeared to monitor me for a while before going away.

On the next block, the first hole is marked “Demolition In Progress”.
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street

Another hole has been dug over on this particualr block, although it is unclear why.
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street

On the next block we have another hole.
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street
Underground Cabling on Allambee Street

From here we can see the under-construction building.
Under-construction building as seen from Allambee Street

Crossing the road to the next block I could see some people working on a roof on a building in Argyle Square.
People working on a roof in Argyle Square

And it is possible to see the under-construction building and a crane from halfway down this block.
Under-Construction building as seen from Argyle Square

Where Allambee Street turns into Currong Street there is a large hole.
Underground Cabling on Allambee and Currong Streets
Underground Cabling on Allambee and Currong Streets
Underground Cabling on Allambee and Currong Streets
Underground Cabling on Allambee and Currong Streets

Half way down Currong Street it turns right on to Boolee Street, but the corner was covered in dirt.
Underground Cabling on Currong Street

On Boolee Street there is a sign informing of a road closure during some of the work which misspells Boolee.
Misspelled sign on Boolee Street

And more signs related to the road closure.
Kograh Lane closure

From here you can see the under-construction building.
Under-construction building as seen from Boolee Street

And there is a Horizontal Directional Drilling machine on the corner of Boolee Street and Kograh Lane.
Horizontal Directional Drilling

And the hole just in front of it, where you can see some conduit and the drill piece on the Horizontal Directional Drilling machine
Underground Cabling on Boolee Street

The cabling then goes under Ballumbir Street and through Glebe Park, on the corner of Boolee Street and Ballumbir Street there is are some street signs.
Sign on the corner of Ballumbir and Boolee streets

I then entered Glebe Park through the Galliard Smith Gate
Glebe Park's Galliard Smith Gate

From just inside the park you can see lots of Conduit and their hole in the ground.
Underground Cabling in Glebe Park

Glebe Park is very wet underground, and has always been that way, as such this hole is pretty wet.
Underground Cabling in Glebe Park
Underground Cabling in Glebe Park

From here the under-construction building is highly visible.
Under-construction building as seen from Glebe Park

UEA were moving one of their Horizontal Directional Drilling machine, if you look closely you will see mats under the machine, which appears to be needed for moving the machine on the bricks. The people moving the machine have to move the mats in front of the machine after they get behind it. In the background you can see the new building.
Horizontal Direction Drilling machine being moved

Around this time one of the UEA trucks that passed me on Limestone Avenue entered Glebe Park and the people inside started giggling when they saw me still taking photos. From just outside of Glebe Park I could see more UEA vehicles.
UEA Vehicles

I then took a photo from the next block, on top of where the cable is going, with the path directly in front of, and directly behind me. You can see the under-construction building’s transformer room from here.
Final destination of cabling

I then zoomed in the transformer room.
Under-construction building's transformer room

And one of the “High Voltage” signs.
High Voltage sign

I then took some photos of the under-construction building.
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building
Under-construction building

I then walked over to the CIT Campus for a cup of coffee at Cafe Yala (with discounts for students) and took these photos of the building from the bridge to the CIT Campus over Coranderrk Street.
Under-construction building
Under-construction building

After this I went and photographed the other main construction site over at section 84 (The Canberra Centre extension), which I will have the photos of, online shortly.

Samuel

16 comments March 17th, 2006 at 08:00am

Editorial Echoes #4

This morning Samuel takes a look at the Commonwealth Games and their reputation as the “goodwill games”.

The episode can be downloaded from here.

I was in a much less noisy environment for this one, so I’ve tried it without noise reduction, I think it comes out OK, let me know if you have a view on the noise reduction or lack thereof.

The next episode will be on Monday, as this is a weekday podcast.

Samuel

9 comments March 17th, 2006 at 06:00am


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