By Day 3, Ian the builder and Darren the excavator operator describe the soil as ‘the worst we’ve ever seen’. Mostly ‘fill’ placed there to support the Woodcutters Road embankment when the road was built, it is full of small dolerite rocks, fist- to skull-sized and bigger, known as ‘floaters’. Using the excavator’s augur (drill) attachment to create the twenty pier holes so that 30 cm (1 ft) diameter formwork tubes can be placed into the holes to contain the concrete that will support the steel would be a waste of time.

Floaters, here mostly skull-sized and bigger.

There is no real option other than to dig the pier holes with the excavator’s small bucket and then square them up on all sides and the bottom manually with shovels. So the pier holes will be much bigger and will require more concrete than originally planned. Given what has been found, more concrete supporting each steel pole will provide the structural stability required to move … upward.

The limp, temporary ‘fence’ seen above, made from star pickets, heavy plastic sheet and reinforced by the orange netting, quickly proves its worth: it’s a floater shock absorber. Installed just next to where the excavator begins initial operations on the steep site, it is designed to stop floaters from gaining momentum and becoming rolling, bouncing, and then flying, projectiles if the excavator or someone’s foot knocks the stones loose. The simple idea was tested and works perfectly.

Peering into a pier hole, created by the excavator’s bucket rather than drilling with an augur.