Adventurous people around the country are buzzing with excitement about the prospect of having the new Christchurch Adventure Park opened by the end of the year – a facility that will also appeal to numerous international visitors in years to come. The new park is located on the Port Hills in Christchurch just five km from the city centre and close to the Christchurch International Airport.
The park, which will be open year round, will include a 4-seater high-speed chairlift, world class mountain bike trails to suit all levels of rider, an exhilarating zipline (flying fox) canopy tour, sightseeing, bike rental, retail facilities and a bar/restaurant at the base of the chairlift. Later phases will see the introduction of lodging and a mountain coaster.
Select Evolution, the developer behind the Christchurch Adventure Park, is a Canadian company based in Whistler, British Columbia whose sole focus is developing leisure, adventure and recreation projects worldwide.
To construct a park in a 900 - acre forest is a challenge in itself, with access to some of the areas almost impossible. HEB Construction is working with Firth who has considerable experience in supplying concrete to remote locations for customers.
“This project has been really interesting for us,” says Paul Cumberland, Sales Representative for Firth. “Some of the foundations for the chairlifts are in extremely difficult locations which has required quite a bit of planning from ourselves and HEB.”
Paul says that they have sent their Health & Safety and Plant Managers to the various chairlift foundation sites and have worked out a plan for each location for concrete to be delivered. Some foundation sites can only be accessed by helicopter with Firth pumping concrete into buckets for placement. In some instances where there is no access for a concrete pump, the concrete is poured down long pipes to get to where it needs to go.
“We can only use our six wheeler trucks and we are only using our most experienced drivers to ensure that nothing goes wrong,” says Paul. “We have a good relationship with the HEB team and are working closely with them to make sure all goes well.”
“This is a challenging project due to the difficult terrain but we are working through the challenges with Firth who have been helpful in telling us what is possible and what isn’t in terms of concrete deliveries,” says Bryce Moir, Project Manager for HEB Construction. “We have spent the last month cutting a 1km track through private property to gain access to one of the locations – it’s tricky but not impossible.”
Once complete, the Christchurch Adventure Park will be the largest downhill mountain bike park in the Southern Hemisphere with over 120km of bike routes. It will feature the longest chairlift in the Southern Hemisphere spanning 1.8 kilometres and climbing 430 vertical metres - and will be a major new tourist attraction for the city of Christchurch.
Project Details
Customer: Select Evolution
Contractor: HEB Construction and Amalgamated Builders
Location: Port Hills, Christchurch
Product: Firth Certified® concrete
To view a video on the Christchurch Adventure Park click here.
