On Saturday, 8 September a team of 14 Arup staff and partners went up to Yea to help complete four houses currently under construction on Habitat for Humanity – Yea Housing Estate Project which was established in response to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.

This was the second Arup blitz day held on this site - continuing our involvement with this project which began at inception and planning stages in 2010. This forms part of Arup’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity through our Community Partnering Projects initiative.

The crew travelled up to Yea by bus from the city - enjoying lots of banter and laughs along the way. Upon arrival, we were quickly underway as many of the team had previously worked on the first blitz day back in July and were eager to return and finish off what they had started. We also had some new volunteers who were keen to test and extend their ‘building’ skills.

A lot was achieved on the day … plenty of wall cladding was cut and installed, a sleeper retaining wall infilled, a hole dug with expert precision and geotechnical engineering advice – then subsequently filled with concrete and a letterbox, a clothesline was installed, some general cleaning and tidying up undertaken – as well as the obligatory task of sanding and painting.

Morning tea and a BBQ lunch were provided by the team at Habitat – and gratefully devoured by a hungry team of volunteers who had worked hard for their appetite.

After reluctantly packing up the tools (just one more cladding panel to put up!) it was time to jump back on the bus and return home. Needless to say - the trip back was a little more subdued as the days labour and activities took its toll on the weary!