New slide making waves

The replacement twin water slides have come in spectacular new colours.

One red and one yellow, they made a strong contrast against the blue sky as their installation at the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre continued yesterday.

Dubbo City Council recreation services manager James McKechnie said they made a change from the blue of the old slides, which after 32 years of use had to be replaced this year.

"We wanted to make it stand out to the public and novel for patrons," he said.

"The new slides are close to identical in slide path and length but they look a bit more spectacular in red and yellow."

The council regards the asset as an important recreational resource and reports that at least 100,000 individual slide rides had taken place each year.

After extensive research the council located the original manufacturer of the slide and the fibreglass moulds for the individual sections were still in existence.

"This means that potentially only minor work will need to be undertaken on the steel infrastructure and the plunge pool, which will significantly reduce the cost in comparison to constructing an entirely new slide," the recreation services manager said in July.

The council accepted a tender of $316,580 ex GST from Dubbo Terrazzo and Concrete Industries for the "new for old" replacement and the old slide was dismantled in winter.

"We're still due for completion at the end of October," he said.

"Everything is going to plan and schedule."