Client
Department of Infrastructure
Location
Litchfield National Park, NT
Value
$0.7 million
Duration
May 2018 - August 2018
Type
Lump Sum Construct Only
Project Overview
Sandy Creek located within Litchfield National Park is an open valley with paperbarks and a plunge pool that is open all year round to locals and tourists. Also known as Tjaynera Falls, Sandy Creek is located 130km outside of Darwin in the Northern Territory. The parks include natural rockfalls, waterfalls, wildlife and landscaped gardens.
Sandy Creek camp area is situated 12km south of Litchfield Park Road and is accessed via an unsealed track designed for four-wheel drives only. Several creek crossings make the track unpassable during the wet season. Facilities at the campground included toilets and showers, and a 1.4km walking track to the base of the falls.
The area is vegetated with sporadic long grass and mature trees. With the tourist numbers increasing by the year reaching up to 35,000 visitors per year, the site was required an upgrade to facilitate this demand.
Intract were contracted by the Northern Territory Government to build a new access road through the camping area, provide widening of the day parking loop, replacing the existing ablution block and installing a new water supply and waste water treatment system.
Scope of Work
The disciplines involved included earthworks, drainage grading works, plumbing, electrical, painting, boilermaking, concrete and signage. Works included upgrading the campsite, amenities and car-parks, the removal of existing wire fencing and its replacement with rock bollards, repairs to the road to allow site access post-inclement weather, concrete foundations for the new toilet block, installation of the solar unit to the bore pump, installation of sensor lighting to the toilet block and installation of a stainless-steel enclosure for the bore control unit.
During the November and December wet season period of 2015, Litchfield Park experienced significant rainfall. Several Sandy Creek crossings become impassable, as the camp area is situated across a sandy flood-plain at the base of a moderately steep slope to the north.
In spite of the heavy rainfall, the project was completed to a point and then postponed for three months until the wet season ended. Despite the delays, Intract completed the project on time.
Indigenous and Local Participation
Works were delivered by Intract personnel across the seven-month period and achieved a 75% Indigenous workforce. Major subcontractors were all sourced from regional Darwin businesses and were engaged predominantly to install the solar bore, plumbing to the toilet block and supply of rock bollards.
