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5973 6424 or email: team@baysidenews.com.au www.baysidenews.com.au Light show: Welder Daniel Harrison competes at Welding Triathlon. Picture: Gary Sissons
Welders show their mettle SPARKS were flying at Chisholm TAFE’s Frankston campus last month when welders competed at the third annual Welding Triathlon. Chisholm TAFE student Blake McDonald, a Certificate IV in Engineering graduate, was crowned ‘Best Welder in Victoria for 2018’ from a field of 12 competitors. Welders showed skills across three timed events showing speed, accuracy and skill. The inclusion of a virtual reality machine to test welding skills in complex scenarios was a challenge for the welders. Mr McDonald, 24, won a Lincoln Welder and helmet for being the brightest spark at the Welding Australia contest. “I’ve competed the last two years and came last in 2017 and was determined to do better this year,” he said. The Cranbourne resident works at Dandenong South’s Bar Crusher Boats. Runners-up were also Chisholm TAFE graduates. Daniel Harrison took out second place and Gary Horn was third. Event organiser and Chisholm teacher Rodney Bentvelzen said the contest shows welding as an attractive career choice. See chisholm.edu.au for information on courses.
‘Breakwater’ studies underway Keith Platt keith@baysidenews.com.au STUDIES are underway into what effect a breakwater near the Olivers Hill, Frankston boat ramp will have on surrounding beaches. Previous studies linked to a marina stretching hundreds of metres into the bay have shown it could affect beaches as far north as Mordialloc and a close
as Daveys Bay, Mt Eliza. The latest research - bathymetric surveys, a hydrographic survey and modelling of sand and tidal movements – follow Frankston Council’s 2017 decision to “develop a coast guard and boat refuge”. The mayor Cr Colin Hampton issued a statement “to address some areas of concern or confusion” surrounding the council’s intentions of building a breakwater at Olivers Hill.
He said the breakwater would “provide protection for small boat users accessing the boat ramp in all weather conditions, it would also enable the Coast Guard vessel to have a protected permanent anchorage, resulting in improved response times to emergencies in the bay and safer transfer of rescued individuals to hospital”. “The impact from strong waves and the potential damage to a vessel should it be moored to the pier during rough
weather could potentially become fatal,” Cr Hampton said. “With these risks in mind, it is necessary to consider a breakwater, which has been used effectively in numerous locations across Port Phillip.” Cr Hampton said the studies, or fact finding exercises, “will inform the feasibility and likely impact of options to create a boat refuge or calm water area around the Olivers Hill boat ramp”. A Coast Guard centre near the boat
ramp “would be ideally located close to the vessel’s anchorage and where fishermen and small boat users enter and leave the bay using the recently redeveloped Olivers Hill boat ramp”. “Council recognises that detailed investigative work is required before any plans are considered, including any alternatives, which will take into account community consultation and feedback,” Cr Hampton said. Continued Page 8