Kosciuszko National Park Post-Bushfire Hut Rebuild | Part 6: Linesmans No.3 Hut
The Kosciuszko Hut Rebuild team has taken to the skies to deliver the two Linesmans Hut frames in spectacular fashion. Built in Tumut, airlifted into location and assembled on the scenic Fifteen Mile Ridge. Watch the impressive helicopter transport process unfold in the latest film of our post-bushfire hut rebuild series. 
Roger Rosenboom and Peter Dow built the frames of each hut in the Tumut workshop and fixed them to the skids built by Roddy Engineering. Each hut was required adhere to a maximum weight of 900kg in order to be transported via helicopter.
All hands on deck for the day of the lift including National Parks staff from Tumut, Khancoban and the Park Air helicopter team.
The Park Air crew did and incredible job designing the rigging and precisely transporting two hut frames and two large pallets of materials in to the site. Minimal wind provided perfect lift conditions.
The decision to airlift the huts in to position came from multiple contributing factors. Fifteen Mile Ridge holds a deceptive amount of watershed and snowmelt and is covered in a vast amount of swampy bogs that allow a wide array of plant life to thrive. Heavy vehicle traffic in the area could risk disrupting or draining these bogs. The area is also home to the endangered Mountain Pygmy Possum, Australia's only hibernating mammal.
Peter and Roger are no strangers to working in challenging weather conditions and the highly exposed Fifteen Mile Ridge offered no exceptions. Rain, wind and freezing temperatures were all common factors to be endured in the assembly of the huts, even in November!
Thankfully, summer in the high country also offered plenty of fine weather too. The previous huts had been clad with weatherboard and required constant repainting due to the harsh winter conditions in the location. The decision was made to instead use colorbond panels to reduce the amount of upkeep needed by caretakers.
Comfortably insulated, furnished and each featuring a brand new stove, the huts are now ready for public day use and emergency shelter. Kosciuszko Huts Association volunteers from The Tumut and District Bushwalkers assisted in painting the interiors.
An impressive turnout of caretakers, volunteers and hut enthusiasts attended the opening of Linesmans No.3 on Saturday 3rd May 2025.
Huts of the Rebuild program:
- Rest House at Sawyers Hill/Sawyers Hut
- Harveys Hut/Tantangara Hut
- Vickerys Hut
- Delanys Hut
- Four Mile Hut
- Happys Hut
- Brooks Hut
- Bradleys and O'Briens Hut
- Fifteen Mile/Linesmans Hut
- Round Mountain Hut
For more information on the Huts in Kosciuszko or to get involved with the rebuild, visit the Kosciuszko Huts Association here.
Tom's Outdoors would like to thank:
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Megan Bowden for her ongoing support in the making of this series
-
NPWS Builders Roger Rosenboom and Peter Dow
-
Kosciuszko Huts Association and its members
- NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
- Jo Caldwell for supplying Pygmy Possum footage
-
Tumut & District Bushwalkers and all other volunteers
