Gabara Access Road Floodway Construction

Project overview

Kakadu National Park located in the Northern Territory 600km east of Darwin is the largest national park in Australia covering 20,000km². The park is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site and has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 65,000 years. Kakadu is managed by the Director of National Parks, Bininj / Mungguy and Park Australia through a mix of traditional ways and modern science.

Ballestrin was contracted by Intract Australia to undertake the construction of two floodways on the Gabara Access Road as part of their Jim Jim Falls and Gabara Access Road upgrade works for the Kakadu National Park. Utilising local suppliers, Ballestrin successfully completed the 25m and 40m Concrete Floodways, each 6m wide and totaling 100m³. Each Floodway was constructed in a single pour with coordination of supply being key to the successful delivery of the project and delivered under strict environmental controls.

Due to the works being located in a national park with strict environmental controls in place, site work zones were reduced to a minimum. This meant that there was no additional room available to place a concrete pump or to turn the concrete delivery vehicle. To overcome this, traffic management was placed at the main road 5km from site. Delivery trucks were required to reverse to the site location. Fabric reinforcement was placed incrementally as the concrete pour progressed, with each truck discharging its load directly into place.

The truck would then drive the 5km back to the main road, as the next truck reverse up the road towards site, the next sheets of fabric reinforcement were placed and the previous load was finished. To further minimise environmental impact, Ballestrin coordinated logistics to ensure all tools, materials and reinforcement were delivered in a single truck movement.

The remote nature, combined with exceptional heat and humidity meant that fatigue management and hydration was a vital part to providing a safe working environment for our personnel. The project was completed successfully with zero lost time injuries and medical treatment injuries.