In the regional city of Orange, recent works were undertaken by the NCS team at the Charles Sturt University Campus’ iconic water tower.

The Heritage Listed Water Towers, built in 1971, required repair after leaking was observed in cracks larger than 0.4mm. On further inspection, major repairs were also necessary from spalling. A Durability Assessment was undertaken to give a thorough report to the asset owner on the deterioration and service life expectancy of the structure, along with proposed methodologies to repair the important landmark.

Along with the challenges of access and height of the repair area, additional consideration had to be taken due to the FalconCam Project. In 2007 a successful installation of a nesting box and a monitoring program was set up to provide a glimpse into the fascinating world of these ever increasing “at risk” species.

Due to the environmental sensitivity to the area and structure and in consultation with our Environment Management System, works had to be undertaken and rescheduled around nesting periods and delayed due to chicks hatching. Once the University deemed it safe to do so, the NCS team were deployed to attend to the crack and spalling damage with little to no disruption to the birds.