Remedial work at Clare Valley has begun on eight houses

The lead engineer tasked with carrying out the remedial work at the Clare Valley housing development has said that although progress is being made, some of the necessary fixes are being held back by the rainy weather being experienced at present.

Dexter Gellizeau, who commenced work {{more}}at the site three weeks ago, said that work has begun on eight of the houses so far, but that progress on the construction of a major wall in the vicinity of the house that collapsed over a month ago is going slower than expected.

“We think [that] by the end of this week we… should have the foundation of the wall in,” said Gellizeau, speaking with SEARCHLIGHT.

“My role is really to come in and look over all the defects… complaints that the homeowners have down here, and come up with solutions to correct them.”

Gellizeau said that among the workers on site, there are four contractors who have already begun implementing the solutions that Gellizeau and his team have come up with.

Along with reinforcing the foundation columns of houses and making interior renovations, the team has also started working on improving the drainage in the area

“We started the design of the drainage of the overlying areas,” he said. “Apart from one or two areas, we just completed some remedial drainage work [around the houses].”

Gellizeau also said that one family residing at the Clare Valley housing estate was re-housed temporarily under his recommendation, but only as a precautionary measure.

“We have to do some excavation below that house,” he explained. “So we have to make sure and look at the occupants’ safety first.”

It is estimated that the remedial work will take approximately six months to complete, but Gellizeau said that he will be increasing the number of workers on site, so that as much remedial work as possible can be done before Christmas.(JSV)