Building a firebreak is one way you can protect your property from bushfire, especially if you live in a rural-urban area, a farm, near a forest or reserve or if your property is surrounded by vegetation. Based on where you live and the size of your property there are different rules regarding your firebreaks.

A firebreak or a fireguard is a piece of land that surrounds or lines your property that is free from flammable materials such as trees, grass, or bushes. It helps by slowing down spreading fires or preventing a fire from reaching your property. Since a firebreak is clear from any obstruction, it also allows fire trucks and personnel to quickly gain access to your property.

How are Firebreaks Created?

Building a firebreak usually requires the use of a slasher or cutter. A slasher is a type of land clearing equipment that attaches to a loader, excavator, or skid steer. It can quickly slash and clear grass, weeds, and low-level bushes. Besides machinery, firebreaks, especially if the area is small, may also be constructed using hand tools such as axes, hoes, and machetes. Some also use chemicals to remove vegetation.

For firebreaks to be efficient in stopping or slowing down spreading bushfires, they should be in the right width. The width of the firebreak depends on the location and the type of surrounding fuel or vegetation.

Types of Firebreaks

Below are common types of firebreaks.

Natural firebreaks

Bluffs and canyons or bodies of water like creeks, lakes, and streams make natural firebreaks. To make sure fire does not cross over the firebreak, there should be no vegetation or combustible material that can ignite. The firebreak must also be wide enough to prevent fire from spreading quickly.

Existing firebreaks

Pasture roads, gravel roads, and cultivated fields are examples of existing firebreaks. Paved roads are also good firebreaks because they allow vehicles like fire trucks to pass through in case of fire.

 Mowed and Wet Lines

Mowed and wet lines go together to make an efficient barrier against spreading fire. Mowed lines reduce the intensity of fire, whilst wet lines serve as the barrier that prevents fire from crossing over.

Constructed firebreaks

Constructed firebreaks that a bulldozer has scraped are considered the most efficient especially if done properly. Ideally, existing crops or vegetation must be removed to expose the bare mineral soil without disturbing much of the ground to prevent erosion.

Firebreak maintenance is as important as building them. To ensure that firebreaks continuously reduce the risk of bushfire, they must be mowed, grazed, or ploughed regularly. They should be cleared from combustible materials that wood, twigs and fallen leaves. Trees near the firebreak should also be pruned to prevent ground fires from burning the tree crowns.

Firebreaks Protect Your Property and Save the Lives of Your Loved Ones

Dobson Excavations offer a wide range of earthmoving services, including firebreak construction and maintenance, in Perth and metro and rural West Australia.

Contact us here for an obligation-free quote …

Construction projects involve different types of excavation or earthmoving activities. Trenching is one of these.

What is Trenching?

Trenching or trench excavation is the creation of a narrow cut or cavity under the earth’s surface. When you dig a trench, the length of the excavated area typically exceeds the width. If the depth is less than six metres, the trench is considered a shallow trench. Meanwhile, excavations exceeding 6 metres are deep trenches.

When are Trenches Dug?

Trenches are an essential part of the construction activities or maintenance of any site or infrastructure. Below are situations that call for digging trenches:

• Installation or replacement of drainage, gas, power, or sewer lines
• Building strip footing or foundation
• Installation of sprinkler systems
• Formation of retaining walls

Using a trench digger speeds up the process significantly, reducing costs. There are different sizes based on the type of job.

What are the Hazards in Digging Trenches?

Digging trenches poses many safety hazards. These may include the following scenarios:

Cave-in

A trench may collapse because of a poor structure or support system. Cave-ins can trap site workers under the ground and cause serious bodily injuries and asphyxiation.

Hit Buried Services

When support systems are not properly installed, they can hit power cables, gas pipes, or water mains. If such accidents happen, they may cause electrocution, burn injuries, and exposure to hazardous gases. They may also temporarily interrupt utility services in the affected areas, this is why the owner or person in charge of any site must contact dial before you dig or hire a pipe locator before any digging proceeds.

Slip, Trips, and Falls

Lack of proper fencing and safety signage may lead to people, machines, and other objects falling into the excavations. Poorly installed access equipment like ladders can also make it difficult to climb in and out of the trench.

Flooding

A broken water pipe or heavy downpour can flood the inside of the trench. If the trench is shallow, water can reach and flood the construction site.

Collapse of nearby structures

Excavating close to a building can weaken its foundation. If continued, it may cause the structure to collapse.

Falling loads

Excavated dirt may fall into a trench and crush people working underground. It is recommended to disallow working inside the trench during excavation to avoid such instances from happening.

For your excavation and earthmoving projects in Perth and West Australia, hire Dobson Excavations. We offer a wide range of services and high-quality equipment for your next construction project. Our team of experienced contractors will ensure that your project is completed safely and promptly.

Contact us here for a quote or to know more about our services.…

A concrete driveway not only brings a functional element of your property but also has an important visual function impact the curb appeal of your property. Building a new concrete driveway needs to follow a well defined process.

Why Build a Concrete Driveway?

Concrete is a durable and weather-resistant paving material, so it’s a popular choice of material in driveway construction. It also needs minimal maintenance and is easy to repair.

Constructing a concrete driveway on your property allows you to create an attractive exterior on your property. While concrete possesses a basic grey colour, decorative treatments are available to give concrete a fresher and more modern look.

Steps in Building a New Concrete Driveway

If you’re up to the challenge of building your concrete driveway, you can follow these steps.

Plan your driveway’s design.

In creating the design of your driveway, consider the number and size of the vehicles you have and whether you need space to turn or manoeuvre your vehicles. If you’re working on a large space, you might want to add a few enhancements, like greenery or a water feature.

Keep in mind that the size of your driveway affects the cost of the project as it will determine the number of materials you need.

Mobilise materials to the site.

After sorting out your design and budget, gather all the supplies, materials, and equipment you need to build.

Prep the area.

Start by removing existing material like grass, leaves, and trash. Once cleaned of debris, it is easier to for you to create the layout of the garden, firm up the base and lay down the concrete.

Install forms.

Drive metal or wooden pegs at the boundaries and connect them with strings. Doing this will let you see the layout of your driveway and guide you on where to pour the concrete.

Compact the base.

If the ground you’re working on is loose or sandy, a clay base will do. For loamy soil, firm it up with sand or gravel. You may consider adding weed control substances if necessary. After adding material, dampen the base with water to make soil compacting easier.

Install stabilisations sheets and grade pegs.

To strengthen the base, you can install stabilisation sheets. This can be a geotextile fabric that helps reduce materials from sinking. Grade pegs serve as a guide on how much concrete you should pour to achieve the correct height.

Pour concrete.

Lay down the concrete mix from the corner, then spread it evenly using a rake or shovel. If concrete seeps through the edges, remove it with an edging trowel. Keep in mind that the concrete needs to be at a height of at least four inches for it to withstand daily wear and tear.

Level the surface.

Use a trowel to create a flat, level finish. Edges can also be smoothened out with a bullnose to remove rough areas.

Install contraction joints.

As concrete dries, it expands and could crack. You can avoid this by using wood …

Firebreaks in all areas Perth-Metro and Rural

Fire season is upon us again, notices are being mailed out from councils.

Your Legal requirements if you live on 1 acre or less for firebreaks, Cut all grass which has to be less than 25mm in height and maintained until 31st May, 2021. Trim all overhanging trees and bushes which hang over driveways, access ways and firebreaks to leave a 4 metre width clearance and a clear vertical axis. Or Install firebreaks that are inside all external boundaries, Install fire breaks surrounding all agricultural buildings, sheds etc. A minimum of 3 metres width no wider then 5 metres.

If you live on more than 1 acre for firebreaks

Keep grasses below 150mm or if used for grazing ensure rotation of grazed and un-grazed areas. Trim all trees and bushes which are over hanging driveways/access ways and firebreaks, and leave a 4 metre width clearance. Install firebreaks inside all external boundaries, and surrounding sheds etc with a minimum 3 metre width.

For dwellings Maintain 20 metres asset protection zones or as per your approved BAL/FMP assessment. Trim back all tress overhanging buildings.

Contact your local council for advise on firebreaks as some councils have different rules, the above is from Serpentine Council, or read your brochure you council supplies.

We at Dobson Excavations can assist with your firebreaks or fire prevention, with either our Brush cutter slasher, which can cut down to ground level small trees/bushes/scrubs/weeds etc, it can also trim trees that are over hanging driveways access way and firebreaks, plus it slashes grass. Check out our link for a demonstration www.dobsonexcavations.com.au/attachement/ or call Bruce on 0414755306.

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Brush Cutter Slasher Attachment for Bobcat Hire-Serpentine-Keysbrook-Jarrahdale

Do you have either a bush block that requires clearing or a block of land with over growth of scrubs/bushes etc, required to be cleared so you can build you home/shed/Water Tanks/Driveways/Trenches.

Then Our Bobcat Case TR320 has a Brush Cutter/Slasher attachment, which handle this job, the Brush Cutter is a BRX318 produced by CAT,

The Overall Width -1911mm, Cutting Width-1829mm, Max Cutting Diameter 203mm, Weighs 1072Kg.

This Brush Cutter is used for clearing overgrowth such as scrubs/bushes/small trees/grass etc, it cuts down to ground level. It can even trim trees. Used as a slasher also for grass cutting instead of using a tractor.

The Brush cutter attached to the Bobcat can be used to clear land, Fire Prevention, House sites, Parks, Recreational areas, Council verges, Main Roads.

We also have a link to our web site which shows you the Brush Cutter Slasher in action, link below.

http://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJzw9c8kWKMioREdhvQ7EpF6w

Contact Bruce 0414755306 or email us at dobson_excavations@live.com

www.dobsonexcavations.com.au

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Septic Tanks Supplied and Installed in Concrete from Perth-Lake Clifton-Myalup-Bunbury

Supply of concrete products and installation at Dobson Excavations, we not only excavate the hole for the septic tanks but we supply them also. We are your one stop earthmoving business, we cater to our customers a service, so customers do not have to hire different business to complete different jobs. At Dobson Excavations we can complete the job from start to finish.

If you check out our web page www.dobsonexcavations.com.au you will be able to view our work and machinery.

As for the installation of Septic Tanks in concrete, septic tanks are used for disposal of sewage and effluent, so concrete is less likely to break or spilt compare to plastic, yes plastic is cheaper, but do want to have to in the end waste more money years or months later to have to replace them if they spilt or cave in, at least with concrete you know they will most probably out last you.

Septic tanks are installed with either 2 leach drains or 2 sets of soak well tanks, These systems are called alternating systems as they have a diverter box which can change the flow of effluent allowing one half of the soak wells or one of the leach drains to be shut off at anytime. This allows the unused portion to dry out which rejuvenates the soils ability to receive effluent.

All the concrete products we supply are approved to Australian Standard AS/NZS 1546.

Contact Bruce on 0414755306

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Installing Soak Well Tanks for Water or Rain Diversion Perth-Bunbury-Australind-Myalup-Preston Beach

Soak well Tanks are an underground structure which allows rain water to drain away.

If rain water is not diverted away or runs off into a soak well tanks, than the rain water can cause your property and sometimes affect neighboring properties.

Which can cause Erosion of house pads, footings, Rising dam to walls, Floor and Foundation damage.

Soak well tanks work by collecting rainwater diverted by pipes attached to gutters, holes in the tanks allow seepage into the soil, they are installed underground.

They come in various sizes and traffic able lids are available if vehicles need to travel over them.

Concrete Soak well tanks will last longer and not collapse with weight over time.

At Dobson Excavations we supply concrete soak well tanks and install them.

Contact Bruce for a free quote today 0414755306…

Mini Excavator for Tight Access or Limited Space for Hire

Is Tight Access a problem with your site? Or Limited Space where a machine can not turn or move around?

With our Mini Excavator its width is 98cm just under a meter, combined with our mini dump truck which is 790mm, we can assess just about anywhere, through garages, carports, side access.

We can access your yard with our Mini Excavator to install Leach drains, septic or soak well tanks, and Shed Pads, sand pad extensions, trenches, lawn removal, pool holes, rubbish removal etc.

If materials are required we supply sand and soil,than our Mini Excavator assist,  if materials are needed to be removed than our Mini Excavator and dump truck can move it out of your tight access or limited space.

Our Mini Excavator is a 1.7 Ton Hitachi ZX17U-S, our mini dump truck is a Wacker Nelson DT08.

Contact Bruce on 0414755306 for a site visit and a free quote.

Also visit www.dobsonexcavations.com.au to view all our machinery.

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