Fyfe is pleased to be involved in the Northern Territory Government’s housing initiative: Our Community. Our Future. Our Homes.
Overview
In 2021 and 2022 Fyfe project managers managed the delivery of modular homes to Kintore (Walungurru) as part of the remote housing initiative. The $1.1 billion project is focused on improving and expanding existing homes, providing new homes to families in remote communities, and building homes for government employees.
Located just shy of 2,000 km from Darwin and around 530 km from Alice Springs, Walungurru sits at the base of the Pulikatjara (Two Hills), a culturally important site to the local Western Desert Luritja people, is home to just over 450 people.
Fyfe was engaged by the Northern Territory Government to manage the delivery and on-site installation of two five-bedroom homes and one large duplex.
Fyfe’s responsibilities
- Managing the final quality of the homes
- Managing the delivery budget
- Managing timelines
- Liaising with service providers
- Conducting regular site inspections
- Conducting regular safety audits
- Document control
- Providing monthly reports to our client
- Documenting the delivery and commissioning of the homes
- Managing delivery risks for the client, the public, and the program
Challenges
Working in very remote areas always presents some challenges, and the remote housing project in Kintore was no different. Fyfe experts ensured the project ran as smoothly as possible despite these challenges.
The modules had to travel around 2,000 km to reach Kintore from Darwin, where they were manufactured. This significant distance, combined with challenging road conditions, meant the modules needed to be repaired on arrival. While repairs pushed out the project’s final delivery time, the Fyfe team was satisfied that these did not affect the quality of the homes.
Heavy rain also affected delivery timelines. At one point mid-project, the roads were closed for four weeks, enough time that the Kintore community ran out of fuel.
We also found that documentation for services and sewer infrastructure, in particular, was not as detailed as expected. This necessitated a late-stage variation during construction which saw us connecting the homes to the main sewer line, four metres under the finished surface.
A 100-tonne digger was brought to the site, travelling a distance of around 500 km—the only vehicle with a boom big enough to undertake the work. Shoring was sourced from Adelaide, some 2000 km away.
The heat in Kintore saw contractors navigating temperatures above 40°C before the electricity was connected and AC units were running. Contractors worked early in the morning and late in the afternoon to combat the heat and comply with safety requirements.
Despite these not insignificant challenges, the final quality of the homes was not compromised and Fyfe was pleased to play a key role in the delivery of new homes to the Kintore community.
