Deepwater Pump Track
The Deepwater Pump Track in Milperra is a brand new riding facility delivered for the City of Canterbury Bankstown. The large-scale track covers over 200 metres and is designed to accommodate BMX, mountain bikes, and scooters riders of all levels. The track offers a dynamic and inclusive space for active recreation. With shelters, seating, bike racks, pedestrian pathways and an amenity building, the space has been transformed into an active community destination.
The Deepwater Pump Track Brief
The brief was to transform a site that had been inactive for 20 years into a vibrant community recreational space. The site’s premier attraction is a pump track that accommodates riders of all levels. It features a beginner, novice and advanced track with jumps and berms for all skill levels, designed and built by Dirtz.
To enhance the park’s overall usability and encourage community use, we integrated supporting facilities, including seating, shelters, bike racks, and improved access to the nearby parklands. Additional features such as landscaping, tree planting, a custom boardwalk connecting pedestrian routes across live waterways, and expanded parking were prioritised to enhance the site’s accessibility and environmental integration.
Meeting The Brief
Working with Place Design Group and Dirtz, our team collaborated closely to deliver an efficient riding experience at Deepwater Pump Track, integrated seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. New pedestrian pathways, shelters, seating, bike racks and an amenities building were created to encourage broader community use. The site’s accessibility was improved through road reconstruction, complemented with a new car park.
Key construction elements included a custom-designed boardwalk built over waterways to improve connectivity, custom handrails to suit pedestrian paths surrounding a large dam, and significant ground stabilisation works to address the site’s soft, flood-prone subgrade.
By activating the space, we’ve created a place where families can spend all day.
Going Beyond It
Despite challenging ground conditions and flood-prone constraints, our civil and landscape construction teams implemented advanced stabilisation techniques to ensure long-term durability and performance of the track and surrounding infrastructure. It was crucial to navigate the site’s soft, flood-prone subgrade and create a stable foundation to construct a pump track that is safe, durable, and long-lasting.
The facility has quickly become a great community asset. Its immediate success was evident on opening day, with more than 200 people lining up to ride, with ongoing daily use by families, riders and the broader community.
The Pluses We Brought To This Project
Challenges
- Challenging ground conditions and flood-prone constraints were navigated in early stages of construction to ensure a solid foundation.
- Complex demolition works, including the safe removal of an asbestos-affected structure and septic system was a challenge and was successfully managed.
Fun Facts
- The asphalt ground that features berms and rollers allows riders to build momentum using their body weight rather than solely relying on pedals.
Project Partners
- Client: City of Canterbury Bankstown
- Design & build of the pump track by: Dirtz
- Landscape architecture by: Place Design Group
Community Engagement
- With the rising popularity of pump tracks, the opening day had over 200 people lined up to get onto the track. Days after the opening there were families and kids all around the park enjoying the facilities.
Opening Day Statement
This is about activation, this is about younger people having some fun and being outside, off their social media, off their technology, off their iPads and off the TVs, doing something that will help you in the long run. So thank you to the staff, thank you to the government for helping fund some of this and I look forward to getting on those bikes a bit later on.”
Mayor of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Clr Bilal El-Hayek