A lot has happened since our last update back in February and we’ve been juggling lots of different jetty-related balls.
After the last pile was sunk in May, the team turned their minds to removing the old jetty. Within a mere 2 or 3 weeks, the old jetty was gone! But fear not, it did not go to landfill. It has been transported to a farm in Teddington where our amazing team of volunteers have started sorting the different timber types into piles.
We are selling the old timber, as well as offcuts of the new hardwood. The jetty was deconstructed in spans of 5 to 8 metres, so there is a lot of dismantling to be done. It will likely take us a couple of months, especially as we need a digger to move the stringers and piles around.
If you are interested in buying some timber and you have not already been in contact with us, please email savethejetty@gmail.com to go on our list of people to email when we are ready to sell.
With the piles in place, the builders were able to complete the sub-structure and carry on with the decking. The jetty is now completely decked, all the way up to the end of the seaward platform.
Now the big question – when will it be completed and open to the public?
Here’s what still needs to be done:
Finish installing handrails
Install cross-bracing
Build the ramps (there are 3 ramps on the jetty)
Install access slope at the landward end
In February, our anticipated opening date was late June. However, as the builders approached the end of the jetty, it became clear that we were going to run out of some types of timber. Some of it will take at least 4 weeks to arrive. There was enough decking timber for all of the platform, but not enough for the ramps, so we have had to look at an alternative solution for these, weighing up cost and availability of materials.
What does this mean? It will not be open to the public before the end of September.
Meanwhile, we were very excited to receive 556 plaques, each etched to recognise the financial donation made by our plank sponsors. One of our trustees is a technical writer, so she spent about 10 hours checking the plaque wording matches what was sent to us and also grouping plaques together for people who have sponsored more than one. The photo shows what it looks like to check and group 556 plaques!
It has been over 5 years since we launched the plank sponsor campaign, so it was amazing to finally get our hands on the plaques. We will start putting them on the jetty as soon as we have a dry weekend - they are going to be screwed and glued to the planks so they are as secure as possible.
We made a beautiful plaque plank plan and got permission to go onto the jetty to check the plan against reality. Alas, the plan was thrown to the wind.
We have always said “there are 1500 planks on the jetty”, and that’s true. However, a much smaller number of planks are wide enough for our plaques (which are 16cm x 8cm). Heaps of the Eucalyptus Globoidea planks are too narrow as they had to be cut thinner due to bending and we didn’t want to waste them. Plus our inspection of the jetty revealed what is obvious in hindsight – for every 8 to 9 planks, 1 or 2 have the handrail posts cut into the end, which is where the plaques will be.
Long story short, there are around 700 standard planks wide enough for a plaque. We have 556 plaques already, so that leaves around 150 planks to be sponsored for $600 each.
We do have a 69 “front planks” available as well. These are on the first section of the jetty, from the land to the first platform. We are using these ones to recognise sponsors who give $2000 or more, likely to be businesses who want their name in this “primo” position.
The wait for extra timber means that we have time to get another batch of plaques done – there’s a minimum order of 25 and we have 10 so far. Once we get to 25+, we’ll order the last lot of plaques to be etched before the jetty opens. If you missed the 10 May cut off date for the last batch but are thinking about sponsoring a plank, go to our sponsor a plank page to get in the next batch.
The next couple of months will be mega for the jetty. Keep watching for more updates.