news fire closes ‘unsafe’ jetty - shire of esperance · tanker jetty on the same day it was...
TRANSCRIPT
THE ESPERANCE EXPRESS, Friday, December 4, 2015 3
NEWS
By HALEY BAKER
TO ensure all Esperance chil-dren have a present to unwrapon Christmas day, locals arebeing encouraged to donate toysfor children less fortunate thisChristmas.
In its sixth year, the Ag andTrade Christmas Toy Ride, for-merly known as the BayAutomotive Christmas ToyRun, will take place next Sa -turday in a bid to collect toys forunderprivileged children inEsperance.
Participants will meet onSaturday, December 12 at theEsperance Bay Turf Club at10.30am for an 11am start.
Ag and Trade managerDavid Clarkson said all com-munity members could getinvolved with the event byeither dropping a gift off at Ag& Trade or taking part in theride.
“It’s not only for bikers, clas-sic vintage cars will also becoming along,” he said.
“They’ll do a ride around thetourist loop, then around townand will finish up here [Ag &Trade] at about 12.30pm.
“The gifts that are donatedby the riders and the generalpublic will be collected and dis-tributed by Hope Foundation,who’ll wrap them and handthem out locally.”
He said Ag & Trade wasmore than happy to continue theevent that Bay Automotivebegan five years ago.
“Bay Automotive has held itfor the previous five years andwith the demise of them wewere approached by a local bik-ers association and RadioWestif we would take it on, whichwe were more than happy to dobecause it’s a worthy cause,” hesaid.
“This is for kids that don’tlook like they’ll be getting aChristmas present this year, soit’s a great cause.
“Donating a $5-$10 presentis nothing.”
Mr Clarkson said those wish-
ing to participate in the rideneeded to register at Ag &Trade the day before the event.
He said all riders would beoffered tickets for a free drinkand band at the Travellers Innfrom 1pm.
“A lady came in and donatedher own bear collection, all inpristine condition, and put themunder the Christmas tree here atAg & Trade,” he said.
“It was fantastic and all for agood cause so that kids don’tmiss out.”
To register for the ride or formore information all Ag &Trade on 9072 0011.
Call for gift donations this Christmas
Christmas spirit: Ag and Trade is spreading Christmas cheer by hosting this year’s Toy Ride.
Fire closes ‘unsafe’ Jetty By KRISTIN MACFARLANE and SARAH CORRIDON
A FIRE has broken out on theTanker Jetty on the same day itwas announced to be closing dueto safety issues.
The fire broke out on the rightjetty pylons before 6pm onTuesday, near a gate that had beenerected to keep members of thepublic out.
Visitor Adrian Wait said hecould smell smoke about 5.30pmand when he went to inspect, hefound part of the jetty on fire.
He said firefighters arrived atthe scene shortly after 6pm.
Once the fire was out the jettywas inspected by Shire ofEsperance staff and only minordamage was found.
The jetty was closed at the timeof the fire and no members of thepublic were on the jetty.
The Shire of Esperanceannounced the Tanker Jetty had tobe closed on Tuesday due to it get-ting a risk assessment of ‘Ex -treme’.
It would not reopen to the pub-lic until remedial works could beundertaken.
The closure is due to a recentstructural assessment that had dis-covered vital structural compo-nents had failed, with others aboutto fail in at least four locationsalong the length of the jetty.
A draft report from coastalengineers BMT JFA Consultantshas been received that recom-mends immediate closure of theTanker Jetty due to a risk assess-ment rating of Extreme.
Shire president Victoria Brown
Tanker Jetty safety issues❑ Cracking of the deck concrete topping.❑ Rot and deterioration of deck planks.❑ Rot and deterioration of stringers.❑ Rot and crushing of corbels.❑ Rot and crushing of end distance on half caps.❑ Splitting of pile tops.❑ Surface and underwater teredo worm and rot damageto piles.❑ Corrosion and section loss bolts and other steelwork.
said the Shire had reviewed thereport and Council would con-sider the full implications ofthe report at the Decembercouncil meeting.
“We cannot allow the publicon the jetty knowing the struc-tural issues currently faced,”she said.
The jetty was subject to ahigh level condition inspectionin accordance with the PortsAustralia Wharf StructureCondition Assessment Man -ual’s (WSCAM) procedures.
It has been determined thejetty is no longer structurallysound for pedestrian traffic.
Cr Brown said the majorityof the structural issues were notimmediately visible as theywere below the water level orbeneath the deck of the jetty.
“Council has a legal respon-sibility to make sure communi-ty assets meet minimum safetyrequirements and unfortunatelythe Tanker Jetty does not meetthose requirements.”
The initial condition assess-ment of the jetty indicatespotential repair costs will runin to the hundreds of thousandsof dollars.
Minister for Regional Dev -elopment Terry Redman said
keeping facilities such as theTanker Jetty open for commu-nity use was vital.
“I’ve been on that jetty and Iknow how much people enjoyit and I know it’s a part of thebroader town development thatthe Shire are putting forward,”he said.
“We’ve got a big state inWestern Australia and obvious-ly there are priorities as wemove forward, but there’s nodoubt that we need to makesure in the future we have icon-ic facilities like that jetty aliveand open for the community tobe able to use.”
Hot work: Firefighters put out the fire at the Tanker Jetty on Tuesday evening. Photo: Adrian Wait
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