July Construction Update

We’re committed to keeping everyone informed how things are proceeding on the ground here at Orchard. In this post, we will provide an update on where in the timeline things are presently, and unpack how our phases of construction at Orchard unfold to give you all a clear picture of what to expect over the coming months.

Recently, local government notified us that our previously approved pipe specifications would require an upgrade in order to meet the growing demand for water in the area. Therefore, working in close consultation with governing water authority City West Water, a new 2km Trunk Water Main will be constructed on Dohertys Road.

However, these new larger pipes will require additional time to be manufactured, resulting in an unavoidable impact on our delivery schedule. Due to this development, Stages 1 and 2 are now projected to settle in January 2019.

Despite the delay required by this necessary upgrade, its implementation ultimately serves to future-proof the water supply to Orchard and our new community, and we remain excited by the ongoing progress overall.

We thank you for your patience and understanding regarding this matter. Read on to learn more about how construction unfolds across each phase at Orchard.

Construction Phases

In line with development best practice, Orchard follows an eight-phase construction process. As you might expect, building something from the ground up involves a great deal of co-ordination to ensure everything is in place before things like roads and homes can arise, and this process allows key milestones to be ticked off in a way that makes for measurable, logical sense.

Let’s take a look at what those phases consist of in a little more detail.

Phase 1 – Plans & Permits

This primary phase deals involves Council and Authority acceptance of documentation – including engineering design - to confirm that physical works may be allowed to commence at your site.

Phase 2 – Earthworks

This is where the big machinery first rolls in, and involves preparation of the site to achieve design lot levels including site scraping, shaping the existing ground, and construction of retaining walls if required.

Phase 3 – Sewer and Drainage

The essential infrastructural underpinnings to ensure the health and wellbeing of the future community are laid down here, connecting every lot to the waste and water systems.

Phase 4 – Road Boxing and Kerb & Channel

In Phase 4, we see things really start to come together as the ground is prepared in order to lay down the lower layers of road pavement. Water and gas mains are also installed, and the kerb and channel – essentially the road guttering system – is put into place.

Phase 5 - Electrical and Telecommunications

With kerb and channel works complete, in this phase trenches are dug for the running of electrical and telecommunications cabling and wiring, preparing the way for power, phones and the internet to be connected.

Phase 6 – Footpaths & Asphalt

The ground goes through another round of preparation to enable the construction of footpaths, as well as for the topsoil of the community’s nature strips. Significantly, this phase also sees middle pavement layers constructed and roads take shape with the laying of asphalt!

Phase 7 – Completion & Inspection of Works

Things have really moved along by this point. The Council and Service Authority perform final inspections before signing off on constructed works including roads and services. Final documentation is provided to Council, facilitating a Statement of Compliance for the development stage.

Phase 8 – Titles Office and Settlement

Have some champagne ready for this major milestone. This is the final step of the construction phase, where registration of individual lots from each stage occurs at the Titles Office, earmarking your block for settlement and opening it up for you to begin the building of your home.

Time to grow

We’ll make sure to keep everyone up to speed with how things are taking shape here in Melbourne’s newest community via this blog, and of course our Facebook page. Or, if you have any questions at all about how things are growing here in Orchard, you can give us a call on 1300 ORCHARD or get in touch via our contact page.