RSAA News of the Month: August 2003
What's Happening at Stromlo?
Temporary buildings are going up. Trees are coming down.
Six months after the January firestorm, the Mt Stromlo
Observatory site is beginning to show signs of recovery. While the
fire-ravaged domes and buildings are still locked away behind security
fences, waiting for insurance to be finalized, other areas of the
mountain are changing their appearance. The draft plan for the
"New Stromlo" was released at the 25th General Assembly
of the International Astronomical Union in July (Sydney, Australia).
One of the prime needs was to get sufficient office and workshop space
to replace that lost on Jan 18. After a month of
"doubling-up" in the surviving Duffield and Woolley
buildings, staff were relieved to see three transportable buildings
arrive in March and April. The administration, electronic and
mechanical design sections are now housed in these temporary
buildings. The security bars on the doors and windows of the
electronic and mechanical design buildings led to the three
transportables being christened "Long Bay",
"Pentridge" and "Parklea".
"Parklea" arrives, the sections are lifted into place and
united ready for plumbing and electricals.
"Pentridge" and "Long Bay" in position. The site
for the "Barn" is cleared and the frames go up.
The "Barn" gets its cladding. Next comes the plumbing,
electrical and internal fitout.
Since the fire, our technicians have been using machinery in the
workshops of the Australian National
University and the Australian Defence Force
Academy. The first step toward bringing manufacturing back to the
Observatory is the construction of a large temporary workshop, the
"Barn". This will be ready for machinery to be installed by
late September.
Our new fire pumps and associated controls are being housed in a
building being erected next to the ruins of the Yale-Columbia
telescope.
The new pumphouse under construction.
The most drastic change began in late July. All of the burnt pine
trees are being cleared. As the trees are felled, they are inspected
to see if the timber is usable. Usable logs are stacked ready to go to
the mill and the rest is chipped and will be used as mulch on site.
Small pines are simply cut. Large ones have some large branches ripped
off by a "dinosaur" and are then cut by chainsaw.
A push in the right direction and the pine is down. Logs are cut and
lifted to the side. Small branches are piled for chipping.
Logs are carried off to a stockpile and small branches are
chipped. Eucalypts are recovering and full of birds.
The pines will be replaced with fire-retardent native trees and
shrubs. Meanwhile the eucalypts are recovering, covered in fuzzy new
growth. The kangaroos and birds are back and doing fine.
Many of the images for this report were taken with Stromlo's new Nikon
digital cameras, donated by Maxwell Optical Industries as
their sponsorship of our rebuilding program.
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