Jibbon Head | Fleetwood Urban

Jibbon Head.


Client	NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
Design Partners	Phillips Marler
State	New South Wales

Balancing community access and education with rare Aboriginal heritage.

Located within the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, the Aboriginal engravings at Jibbon Headland have long been a popular location for the public to appreciate the cultural heritage of the local Dharawal people. However, increasing visitor numbers had contributed to its deterioration, with erosion and abrasion putting the preservation of the engravings at risk.

Identified by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and the National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as an important landmark on the Royal Coast Track, Fleetwood was engaged to construct a new viewing platform and walkway that would provide urgent protection to the area, whilst still allowing adequate public access to the unique cultural site.

Our involvement.

Fleetwood was selected to deliver the iconic new structures based on our proven expertise working within sensitive environments.

We began by partnering with Phillips Marler to identify and fine-tune the most effective designs, methodology and materials. We then led the highly complex construction phase, flying in pre-mixed sand and cement for the above ground footings by helicopter in bulka bags to avoid site contamination and speed up the construction process.

Materials and tools were then manually carried into the area by foot along a 300-metre trail. The galvanised and painted steel work components for the walkway and the viewing platform were assembled offsite in small sections and then individually helicoptered into position with great care to complete the final installation.

How does this project inspire people to love the outdoors?

The walkway provides safe and easy access to the site, allowing more families and visitors to experience one of the region’s most significant Indigenous cultural landmarks. It also forms an early stage of a much larger project that will, ultimately, see the creation of a series of Great Walks in NSW that will stand alongside iconic routes such as Tasmania’s Overland Track and Victoria’s Great Ocean Walk.

Design Challenge

Landscape Architects Phillips Marler were commissioned by NPWS to design and document construction for a new 60-metre steel elevated viewing platform and walkway.

The logistics of the sensitive site dictated much of the design process requiring solutions to a range of challenges including the ability to be installed with no fixed sub-soil construction, as well as withstanding bushfires and the corrosive effects of the salty coastal environment.
Construction Challenge

The sensitive nature and remote location of the Jibbon Headland site was hugely challenging from a construction and installation perspective.

Vehicle access was severely restricted, so for the solution we looked skyward. A helicopter would be needed to transport and place materials to avoid any damage and reduce working time on the ground.
Innovations

An innovative approach was required throughout the project given the constraints of access, together with the highly sensitive construction corridor with aboriginal carvings very close to the work site.

The footing structures, in particular, had to be carefully designed and installed to ensure minimal impact.

Helicopters were used to bring in all materials using dedicated drop zones, while our crews would walk up the beach with their hand tools each day to Jibbon Head, approximately 450m from the nearest vehicle access point.
Features
- Steel elevated viewing platform and walkway
- Fire and corrosion resistant finishes
- Steel handrails with stainless steel top rail
Safety & Risk Considerations

Working safely in a remote corner of a National Park on sandy and unstable ground, with many materials flown in by helicopter, was far from simple.

Beyond the structures themselves, external factors such as snakes, heat and gusty winds also needed to be considered.
Sustainability Considerations

Preserving the culturally sensitive site and surrounding bushland drove the entire design and construction process. No fixed sub-soil construction was allowed and vehicle access was kept to an absolute minimum.

To reduce the need for future disruptions at the site, all materials and paint finishes were specified to maximise longevity and withstand fire as well as corrosion in the salty coastal environment.