Walcon builds world's first deep water wheelchair access pontoon

A RECENT initiative by the Woollahra Municipal Council will make the choice a little easier for some of our citizens with disabilities. The Watsons Bay Ocean Baths in Sydney Harbour is now the home of the world’s first deep water Wheelchair Access Pontoon. A uniquely designed and engineered marine pontoon designed specifically for wheelchair access into the ocean waters of the world’s greatest harbour.

The swimming complex provides the total access solution with accessible parking and easy entry, as well as aquatic wheelchairs for loan for those who may not own their own submersible chairs, accessible change rooms and sanitary facilities.

The public pool, which commenced life in 1905 as a shark proofed swimming area, has always been a popular spot and the addition of this Pontoon, together with wheelchair access, has added to its appeal to all users. Not restricted to people with disabilities, there are family friendly swimming facilities, dive platforms and floating racing blocks for everyone’s enjoyment.
Designing and building such a "simple" device challenged more than few people, particularly many able-bodied designers and engineers. Ask anyone who has tried to come to grips with the unique challenges facing wheelchair bound citizens and you will hear some incredible stories, as well as a number of life altering moments, as they work through various problems with the potential users.

The pontoon and associated access works were conceived by Kieran McInerney and Victor Young of Kieran McInerney Architect in association with d-Construct Architects. The pontoon was part of a works program aimed at upgrading the facility to the highest level. The engineering designs were developed by TLB Engineers working with KMA, as well as with Mark Relf of Accessibility Solutions, who ensured that all Australian Standards for accessibility were implemented throughout.

From the time a person with mobility impairment parks their car at the roadside, that person moves down a series of ramps onto a pontoon with internal ramps which extend to below the current water level. There is a below-water platform at one side of the pontoon ramp, where people are able to float off the submerged wheel chairs and straight into clean, deep, harbour water.

The facility has been praised by many with lavish praise by a former Para Olympian swimmer Lesley Page who said: “Everything about it (the facility) is brilliant . . . I hope councils around Australia and overseas will follow your lead so other wheelies can get back into the ocean with ease.”

TLB Engineers designed the main pontoon using a standard Walcon System 2000 deck arrangement with some modifications and polyethylene floats, attached to purpose designed frames which create the central ramp structure, and the rigidity for the whole 16m x 7m pontoon to survive the sometimes severe westerly wave conditions which could arise at the site.

Walcon Marine Australia Pty Ltd has manufactured many unique designs of marine pontoons but even they admit that this one was truly different.

“We are more used to our products being the home for varying types of water craft, from luxury cruisers to maxi yachts, but this project had us really challenged in a number of areas,” said James Walters MD of the company that manufactured and  installed the pontoon.

“We have an excellent team of engineers and staff that enjoy something a little different, and this installation was a delight for many of our team to work on,” he said.

The decking on the final ramp sections, leading down into the water, is a special non-slip material which provides excellent grip to the tyres of the chair, and is a surface that is impervious to the elements, as are all materials used in the pontoon’s construction.

The angle of the ramps is designed to minimise the effort of the occupant in travelling from road level to the water. The full length of the structure incorporates both handrails and chair fendering to ensure a smooth passage for the chair and its occupant.

It was critical that the pontoon achieved the appropriate degree of buoyancy to ensure that entry level into the water was neither too shallow, nor too deep for the person in the chair. Either extreme would be a problem and cause the occupant to drop off, or to float off, before reaching the exit point.

Visitors to the baths via the adjacent Watsons Bay Wharf may find themselves being transported by another famous Olympian, Louise Sauvage, the so named Supercat class Sydney Harbour ferry that operates the route from Circular Quay to Watsons Bay wharf on a regular basis.