Visitors to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory now have a vantage position to watch the spectacular sights, on viewing areas constructed using the Rocla PermaTrak concrete boardwalk system.
More than 300,000 tourists visit the National Park each year, contributing an estimated $400 million to the Australian economy. Visitor numbers had outgrown the old parking and viewing area, necessitating the $21 million redevelopment.
Improvements made to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park include new car and coach parking areas, shade shelters, toilets, 11 kilometres of new roads, 1600 metres of walking tracks and two large viewing platforms.
The new Talinguru Nyakunytjaku viewing area is located approximately three kilometres to the south-east of Uluru, and landscaped into dunes.
Set into the top of the dunes, the platforms give visitors an elevated view of the famous monoliths – Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and Kata-Tjuta (The Olgas) – capturing both icons in a single panorama.
The pathways leading to the platforms and looping back to the parking areas are made from a mix of laterite and concrete to match the surrounding red soil. Small edge restraints on the path discourage visitors from wandering off and disturbing the dune vegetation.
The two concrete boardwalk platforms, situated about 70m apart, are mounted on steel sub-structures varying in height from ground level to 1.5m. The PermaTrak reinforced concrete boardwalk system was specified by Jackman Gooden Architects (NT) for its durability, low maintenance and integral finish. The system was installed by ProBuild (NT).
Rocla manufactured the PermaTrak treads with a red oxide admixture specified by the architects to integrate with the landscape.
