Helicopter drops in vital supplies for Castle Hill work

Date: Tuesday, 1st September 2009

A project to better protect homes against rockslides on Castle Hill has received some much needed help from above.

A helicopter has been called in to deliver heavy materials such as fencing, cables and fencing posts to a site behind Stanton Terrace where a 110 metre long catch fence will be built.

Mayor Cr Les Tyrell said the logistics of the area meant some assistance was needed from the sky.

“Given the difficulty of the terrain and the steepness of the slope, using a helicopter was the best way to tackle this job,” Cr Tyrell said.

“It would have been impossible for crews to drag the necessary equipment and the fencing components into this location.”

Cr Tyrell said the catch fence would be made from a specialised type of netting designed in Switzerland.

“This won’t be an ordinary fence, because the netting is designed to act as a barrier that can absorb the energy impact of a rockfall,” Cr Tyrell said.

“This provides very valuable protection for homes below.”

Specialist contractor, Rock Australia, has been commissioned to carry out this latest stage of the stabilisation project at a cost of $320,000.

The work is part of a joint $1.33 million project between the council and the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management to stabilise risk areas on Crown Land on Castle Hill.

The areas were identified in a comprehensive risk assessment commissioned by the council after torrential rainfall caused landslips in 2000.

The stabilisation project has taken place over the past three years in the Castle Hill Nature Reserve behind West End, North Ward and Townsville City, and is expected to be completed by early next year.

During the life of the project, boulders have also been anchored to the hill while rockfall netting has been attached to clusters of boulders and reinforced with galvanised steel cable.