b'Camps were scattered throughout the project, but as the Thiess men wound their way up the 27 kilometres of the Geehi Gorge, a spot was pinpointed for a township. High on a spur overlooking the gorge, amongst virgin bush and tall grey gums backed by towering mountains, the name Bella Vista (meaning beautiful view) was suggested,and it stuck.Within months, racing against the onset of ice- and snow-packed winter roads, theyhad hauled in the prefabricated offices and housing, where a cultural melting potof 800 people were already hard at work. Amidst the clamour of a dozen languages ranging from Latvian and Yugoslav to Norwegian and Spanish, the sound of powerful diesel motors reverberated through the mountains. Gradually, the township sprang to life. Around a central square where an Australian flag flew, stood a Bank of New South Wales; a post office; a school with forty-five pupils; a general store called Poon Brothers, run by Chinese storekeepers; and a fleet of Thiess bright yellow Toyota LandCruisers. All up, equipment worth $6 million needed to be acquired just to get this very complex show on the road.Those first Snowy projects were the biggest thing we ever handled, Bert Thiess said in the companys seventy-fifth anniversary book in 2009. And we were close to going broke over it. It just happened that we [had] started work at Mount Isa and [were] making a lot of money. And Sydney had some good contracts, too. So we scrambled through. Lessons learned from such undertakings, however, would serve Thiess well beyond the scramble of those times. The work gave the company a standing in the global construction industry, and the brothers a sense of pride that their Australian-owned company had successfully completed so much work on such an important project for their country.Despite the engineering and construction success of the many companies who worked on the project, 120 lives were lost, including Kenneth Thiess, one of Bert Thiess sons. This is a sombre reminder of the critical importance of the safety, health and wellbeing of our people that continues to this day, says Executive Chair and CEO Michael Wright.Out there is where you learn. Out there is where you leavea legacy. Bill Turner, Thiess employee, 1959 to 200948'