Sam Galea is made of some tough stuff – the Melton resident has spent the past 25 years building his brick recycling business from the ground up.
The Level Crossing Removal Authority is now sourcing fill from Mr Galea’s Plumpton Road Recycling Centre to use for retaining walls on the new road bridge at Melton Highway.
“Using crushed and recycled bricks, as opposed to gravel, is much better for the environment, as a product that has already been manufactured is used instead, meaning that huge holes in the ground don’t need to be dug,” Mr Galea said.
The brick recycling and construction business is a labour of love for Mr Galea, who at 80 years of age still heads to the factory every day of the working week.
He says coming in each day “keeps him young”.
Arriving in Melbourne from Malta at the age of 16, he began his working life with a demolition company that operated in Melbourne.
He recalled many occasions when he was called in to “blast” old foundations at demolished buildings next to neighbouring city buildings at 2am, which was commonplace all those years ago.
“You’d never do noisy works like that in the middle of the night nowadays,” he said. “People would be up in arms.”
The business is now largely operated by his two sons, Norm and Paul, and daughters Nancy and Joan.
Mr Galea is proud of the fact that he has worked for himself for the past 50 years.
Level Crossing Removal Authority project director Tony Hedley said using recycled bricks reduced the need for ground to be disturbed. He said sourcing products from local suppliers in the west was an added bonus.
“This project will vastly improve travel for the people in the west and our association with local companies like Sam’s means that the benefits are two-fold,” Mr Hedley said.
