Australia's first full-scale artificial wave pool entered the final construction phase.
Surf Lakes, one of the most ambitious man-made wave facilities in the making right now, is getting ready for the first tests.
The structure is located ten miles southwest of Yeppoon, Queensland, and it is now ready to welcome the heavy machinery that will generate surfing's ultimate resource: perfect peeling waves.
"In a couple of weeks, we'll have the concrete down in the middle and the tower going up with all the pieces on the side. And once that tower is up, I'll be in a barrel," says Aaron Trevis, founder and CEO of Surf Lakes.
"The hydraulic cylinder is the central part of the mechanism. The piston will go down into this. It will be where the pressure surrounds the piston and drives the whole mechanism out of the water."
Trevis notes that Surf Lakes will display one of the biggest hydraulic cylinders in the world. And Mark Occhilupo, the company's ambassador, hopes to be the first to ride the Australian beauty.
"Our wave is going to be unique. It's going to jack up really big and taper off perfectly. But we've got four different waves. Actually, there are eight waves with lefts and rights. And I'm going to backdoor that thing, take my hat off, and say: 'Thank you very much,'" jokes Occhilupo.
According to the developers, Surf Lakes will fire around 2,400 concentric waves per hour that can reach 2.4 meters. The pool will be pumping five to six waves per set, and they all have different shapes.
From a technical perspective, visitors will encounter circular waves that bend around the reef and break in almost any direction.
The team behind Surf Lakes is expecting to start the first surfing tests in September 2018. After fine-tuning the demo site, the Australian company hopes to expand its concept across the world.