00:00It's a busy day here on the Narang River. Between the constant wake of the SeaWorld
00:04cruises and the passing jet boats, our marina is under immense pressure. So much so that these
00:10outer fingers have actually started to come apart from the main pontoon. Today a work barge is on
00:16site to install outriggers as an immediate safety measure to hold everything together.
00:21I'm here at the water's edge to chat with Connor about how they're securing the site.
00:26Yeah, so obviously it's a really, really high traffic area through here. So you'll notice
00:31this pontoon here, that's completely snapped off on an angle. There's not going to be any way to fix it
00:38unless we stabilise it. You can see that one there. We put some outriggers on that one, stabilise that one.
00:44And then once they're both stabilised, then we can get going on there and fix it up.
00:48So how did it snap? To just give you water away.
00:54We don't think it was made correctly at the start. So what we're going to do,
00:59we're going to put a stabilised door now and then build it correctly for this area.
01:04Was it a weather event that sort of ended up triggering it or it just broke away?
01:07No, just in a horrible area.
01:09Oh, we do get a lot of boats passed here.
01:11Yeah, even today on a Wednesday work day, there's been hundreds of boats right past.
01:16And how does that make your job?
01:18Oh, it keeps interesting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:22Wow, how cool. Very cool.
01:24So you do marine stabilise that. What else do you do?
01:27What else does Jason might do?
01:29Pontoons, floating restaurants, bars, all floating structures.
01:31Oh, right.
01:33Yeah, marine is kind of our specialty, but obviously we've moved into the commercial sector.
01:37Oh, how fascinating.
01:38And we're doing bars and restaurants and that kind of thing too.
01:41Wow, what's the biggest one you've worked on?
01:43La Luna. We built La Luna.
01:45Oh, that's so cool.
01:46Yeah, very cool.
01:47That would have been a big job.
01:49Very cool, yeah.
01:50And what's the best thing about working on these structures?
01:53Oh, yeah, in the water every day.
01:54Yeah, oh yeah.
01:55Nice, yeah.
01:56Yeah.
01:56It's hard to complain.
01:57Every day is different, so.
01:58Do you wear a lot of sunscreen though?
02:00Yeah, I don't.
02:01I'm already getting dark.
02:02Yeah, I should have today.
02:04I've come across.
02:05So you can tell me, so how did we, obviously our building knew that this had come apart.
02:11So, and where did it come up? Did the whole thing just come apart like this?
02:15Because I have received all the messages. We don't have a boat, so, you know, I mean,
02:20we did get messages about all this sort of stuff happening, but I don't really realise how bad it was.
02:26Yeah, yeah.
02:26When you come down and have a look at that boat, it's pretty much destroyed this whole fontaine.
02:30Wow.
02:30And it's just ripped straight out.
02:32So you haven't removed that?
02:34That is how it was?
02:35That's how it was, yep.
02:36And then our job is to make it like this one here.
02:39Wow.
02:39And stabilise it, so we can figure out a solution to fix it all.
02:43Okay, so is it going to be all fixed eventually, or are we just stabilising it for now?
02:48Stabilising it for now.
02:48Yeah.
02:49Hopefully in the next couple of months, we're still going to build one of these, brand new.
02:52Oh, nice.
02:53And then once we build this brand new, then we'll repair, we'll be keeping that one,
02:57keeping that, keeping that, keeping that, but we're replacing this bit of one.
03:00So they can all come back on and hold together again.
03:03Okay, so that one there, um, will be still on this new one then?
03:09Yep, yep, yep.
03:09And so how are you stabilising it?
03:11Like, are they, um, hooks and...
03:12Nah, so you can see that the two foam floats on the inside.
03:16Oh, yes, yep, yep, yep, yep.
03:19Now, so they're just giving it stability.
03:21Oh, wow.
03:23And how long are these floats going to be here for?
03:25Till you fix the new one?
03:26Till we fix it, yeah.
03:27Yep.
03:28It's just stabilising it and making it safe for now.
03:31Just when the boys come back and actually fix it, they can do it properly.
03:34And have they put more hooks and screws and things in here, or...?
03:37Nah, not yet.
03:38They were all there already.
03:39Okay, yeah.
03:40Um, we're going to rip all them out and pretty much start from scratch.
03:42Because this one hasn't broken, but this one obviously has broken.
03:45Nah, but you can see they've broken away from this middle section.
03:48Oh, it has too, yeah.
03:49Yeah.
03:54And so what happens, obviously, if you don't fix this?
03:56It'll just float away.
03:57Yeah, eventually, yeah.
03:59It's just going to keep getting worse and worse.
04:00I'll just spin around the pile.
04:02I'm still spinning.
04:03Yeah.
04:03Just basically spin around and around.
04:05I'll just spin around and put that one.
04:06Do 360s like this.
04:07It'll just do whatever the tide wants it to be.
04:09Do you have pontoons that are floating free here on the Gold Coast?
04:13Many?
04:13Ever?
04:14No.
04:14No, people will get onto it, yeah.
04:16100%.
04:16Yeah.
04:17Yeah.
04:17It'll be really dangerous.
04:19That can, um, create a lot of issues if you've got free floating pontoons.
04:22Oh, yeah.
04:22They can weigh like 5, 10 times each, so...
04:24Oh, yeah, really dangerous.
04:26They'll destroy everything in their way.
04:28And what's this, um, caterpillar, obviously, has come on a barge.
04:32Yeah, correct, yeah.
04:32So this is awesome, too.
04:35But, wow, that is really bad, isn't it?
04:37Like, look at it.
04:38It's so broken.
04:41Yeah, when you come down here, it's a lot worse than it looks like up there.
04:44And so those two, um, boxes there, or what are they called?
04:47What do you call them?
04:48Outriggers.
04:49Outriggers.
04:50Yeah.
04:50So those outriggers are then going to...
04:52You're actually going to tip the pontoon properly on it.
04:55Then you just keep them stable.
04:57So it makes water.
04:59Yeah.
05:01Wow.
05:03Yeah, it's all that means.
05:04Are we going to be able to put boats back on this while the stabilisations are here or not?
05:09No.
05:09No, that'll be in a couple months once it's all, um...
05:12Oh, yeah, look, yeah.
05:13All fixed up.
05:13We really do have a lot of traffic here.
05:15Yeah.
05:16We do.
05:17We've constantly got the boats, the ferries.
05:20For some reason, everyone's got a day off today on their boats.
05:24Yeah.
05:24Everyone's dropping fast off.
05:26It has actually been busy.
05:28It has.
05:28I've noticed, too.
05:30I'd be out there doing the same thing, probably.
05:33So do you like...
05:34Yeah, well, do you do water sports yourself?
05:36Like, do you really love being out on the water?
05:39So that's probably what attracted you to the job.
05:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:42Definitely.
05:43Wow.
05:44And, um, is this part of your company or is it a hide?
05:47Or it is, yeah.
05:47Yeah, so we own, um, a fair pool there.
05:50So what machinery is that there at the end?
05:52Oh, they're, um, that's a Caterpillar's.
05:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:57So what do you, what, what did we need the digger for here?
06:00Like...
06:00So you can see the strap in the end.
06:05Oh, right, you are cool.
06:10Oh, how fascinating.
06:12And then when all of those are the haves, you can see them.
06:14Oh, yeah, fair enough, yeah.
06:17Are you near here on the job?
06:19Nah, I've been here for a while.
06:20I'm going to be a predator.
06:21Oh, right, yeah, yeah, cool.
06:24Oh, that is awesome.
06:26So that's what you needed the Caterpillar for?
06:29The digger?
06:29Yeah.
06:30Oh, is it a Caterpillar?
06:32Is that, am I calling it the wrong term?
06:34No, that's what everyone calls it.
06:35Calls them, yeah.
06:36It's not, but, yeah, that's what everyone calls them.
06:38It's pretty, you know.
06:39How interesting.
06:40So that then lifted up the...
06:42And that's going to do the same for this one, isn't it?
06:44Yeah, eventually.
06:45You can't get those plants out there very much.
06:47They're too much oil.
06:48Oh, wow.
06:49A lot of weight.
06:51How awesome.
06:52And what do you normally use these buckets for then?
06:55Um, just digging out sand or mud or just...
06:57Yeah, yeah.
06:58We do a lot of work on the, um, toilet water as well.
07:02Oh, right, yeah, yeah.
07:04Demolition work too.
07:05Oh, cool.
07:05Sometimes, so, yeah, we need, you know, you to do that kind of stuff.
07:08Yeah.
07:10Yeah.
07:11Yeah, sweet.
07:12Well, thank you so much for talking to us.
07:15This is just fascinating.
07:16All the equipment you work with and everything.
07:18Yeah, it's very different.
07:19Well, there must be a lot of training as well.
07:21Like, you're doing an apprentice, apprenticeship, are you?
07:24Yeah, so, we do floating bars as well.
07:26Yeah.
07:26We build a lot of floating bars, so I'm actually an apprentice carpentry.
07:30Oh, right.
07:31So we do offices, floating bars and all that kind of thing.
07:34It would be a lot of training.
07:35Yeah, I've got to finish it first.
07:37Get to it.
07:38But these boys are pretty on to it, so.
07:39Yeah, these boys are better.
07:40Oh, that's great.
07:42Good on you.
07:42And what's that little boat there that, um, you came on that boat today?
07:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:46We've got plenty of boats.
07:47Yep, yep.
07:48So we've got boats all over, so we've got multiple jobs doing at the same time.
07:51So your job's basically to cruise around the waterways, are they?
07:54Yeah.
07:55Not as good as it sounds.
07:57There's a lot of work involved.
07:59That's really cool, though.
08:00Well, thank you so much for your job.
08:02Yeah, no dramas.
08:03I just kicked over your bucket.
08:04I want to know your screws.
08:06Well, thank you.
08:08Like, and thank you for your work.
08:09And so what's the next step then here?
08:11Like, leave me here for a couple of months and then, um.
08:12Yeah.
08:13So this is going to take you a couple of months to, like.
08:16Yeah.
08:16Well, we've got to get, uh, body corporate have got to approve the new pontoon.
08:19Oh, right.
08:21Yeah, okay, yeah.
08:21So once that's done, we can start building one of these.
08:24Okay, yeah.
08:24And once that's done, we can bring it in.
08:26Pop it in.
08:27All right, well, we'll be back to see the final result.
08:30And thank you so much for your time and talking to us.
08:33Thanks for having us.
08:35Bye.
08:36I'll admit, when I first interviewed Connor about these works, I had no idea how this
08:41technology actually functioned, but the engineering is actually quite clever.
08:46These outriggers are secured to the pontoon fingers with heavy-duty metal brackets, extending
08:52the dock's footprint to counteract the roll of the tide.
08:56The black shells house a core of marine-grade closed cell foam.
09:00This ensures permanent buoyancy, even if the outer casing is ever damaged.
09:05Since the marina is currently closed, these stabilizers serve as a temporary solution,
09:11keeping the structure level and secure until permanent repairs can be completed.
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