Council to look locally for contractors to build BMX pump track at SWIBMX facility

The City of Marion will look locally to find a contractor to build a more “cost-effective” bitumen pump track at the new Sam Willoughby International BMX Facility at O’Halloran Hill.

At their recent May General Meeting, Elected Members voted to overturn a 2021 decision to build a UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) accredited pump track that would have locked them into using a UCI-accredited contractor.

A report to Council advised that a procurement process revealed that there was only one UCI-accredited pump track builder in the world and the cost to construct a UCI-accredited track would “come at a significant premium”.

The cost variation came to light when the Council requested an alternative offer from a South Australian contractor to build a track with similar specifications to a UCI-standard track.

Council will now tender for a contractor to build an international-standard, bitumen-sealed pump track approximately 200-210 linear metres long.

“This pump track will be 200 to 210m long, it will be bituminised and it will be located next to the amazing new international standard BMX facility we have at the top of O’Halloran Hill,’ Mayor of Marion Kris Hanna said.

“We’ve worked with the Happy Valley and Cove BMX clubs to make sure it’s something they are happy with because this is going to be their new home base.

“Council will maintain the pump track as a publicly accessible facility. It’s going to be a wonderful asset for the community as well as for world-class BMX bike riders to use.”

A pump track is a circuit that consists of rolling mounds and berms in a loop format that is designed to be ridden solely by pumping to gain momentum.

This type of circuit remains part of the plan for the $6 million Sam Willoughby International BMX Facility with a UCI-accredited BMX competition track officially launched in late January.

Finishing works to the surface of the track berms of the competition track, reshaping some parts of the track to meet UCI feedback and repairs to parts of the track damaged by heavy rains are expected to be completed in the coming months.

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