Thread: Taronga Zoo Chimpanzee Enclosure Construction

Originally Posted by 3 toed sloth

Thanks Tony, but when I look at the photo with the guy at the base of the pole I wonder why the segments above his head aren't touching end to end, you can still see the steel post inside the timber cladding. Am I missing something?

my guess it's where the "branches" or ropes go

Looks like there is some interest!
The hot topic of the gaps: The gaps are for the installation of platforms and branches that are yet to be built and installed. Its a bit of a crappy detail but once it is all complete it wont stand out as much.

Yes, I know more than I ever thought I would know about Chimps, they are 5 times stronger than a human and everything has to be 'chimp proof' meaning all nuts and bolts have to be tack welded, the glass has to be able to withstand a 70kg chimp running at 60kph, sharp edges and splinters have to be removed, the list goes on, not your typical specification!

We have just returned from Braidwood having spent the last few days at the sawmill cladding the next 5 masts that will be installed tomorrow at 5am. I will post photos soon

My daughter is coming to live with me full time. The progress on this enclosure will give some hints
Anyway worked with a builder years ago, did a similar thing with a pole house in Yeppoon Queensland, it cost a lot of money

Looks like this will be a very interesting WIP, will be good seeing it all come together. Might have to visit the zoo during the holidays, has been quite a few years since I was there.

Originally Posted by opelblues

My daughter is coming to live with me full time. The progress on this enclosure will give some hints

I'm certainly interested - just to add my support for more pix and info.

Went to the zoo the other week and could see the enclosure at the back being build, looks good (what you can see of it) in person

Pictures by triconconstructions - Photobucket


We have been busy building the separation enclosure over the past 2 months or so.
Its heavily scaffolded to access the work areas, cant wait to see all the complexities when the scaffolding is removed.
The separation enclose consists of 11 250 SHS steel masts clad with 450mm+ diameter iron bark logs, 5 tonne once clad.
The masts are sitting on a ball joint, the top of the masts will be secured to a stainless steel mesh which will allow the masts to move in any direction.
Someone was right in guessing what the spaces were for. Its where we have connected platforms and branches to the masts.
Currently the masts are propped until the mesh is installed.

Our next work area is the climbing structures in the open paddock. These are freestanding structures with platforms and branches.
We wont have the luxury of scaffolding and will have to build them using EWP's.

We should be complete by the end of Feb, however there will be other subbies that will have work to do after us.

It takes 2 months to shift the chimps in, that will be interesting! I hope they like it because this has been the biggest challenging project we've ever built!

Check out my website Tricon to see other projects.

I work for the company that manufactured the steel masts so I'm very interested in seeing more photos as construction continues. Thank you for posting these as its good to see the different phases.

This is cool mind you the sawmiller in me sheds a tear for how much log is being used for it although wouldn't it have been easier to just put the logs in whole? lot less expensive and definitely strong enough to withstand chimps with no bolts/screws needed?

Keep us updated

Very impressive. Must be a nice bit of money involved.

Originally Posted by Sigidi

This is cool mind you the sawmiller in me sheds a tear for how much log is being used for it although wouldn't it have been easier to just put the logs in whole? lot less expensive and definitely strong enough to withstand chimps with no bolts/screws needed?

That's what I would have thought too, but my guess is that joining the logs at all sorts of odd angles requires a heap of iron mongery anyway, so rather than attaching large iron brackets to logs they are doing it the other way around.

Well today we finished our contract works!
It has taken 12 months of hard work and stress but we did it!
Check out the latest photos: Pictures by triconconstructions - Photobucket

Lovely job Steve. I hope the chumps eh..chimps appreciate it.

As you have probably been told, the delightful chimp from the "tea parties" is something of a mis-nomer. They are the babies up to 4 or 5 years old. From that age on they become aggresive juvinile deliquents and finally grow into a fearsome creature, five times as strong as a strong man and not shy about using their strength. They also come with an attitude. They make a gorilla look like a wimp.

Sorry, just had to mention that. Again the job is one to be proud of.

Regards
Paul

A huge job like that must have meant some serious money.