Skyrail Rainforest Cableway

[1][2][3] The cableway, which journeys over the MacAlister Range between Smithfield and Kuranda, includes six-person gondola cabins that glide metres above the treetops.

A Rainforest Interpretation Centre, developed in conjunction with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is located at the Barron Falls.

[15] A AU$2.5 million upgrade in May 1997 increased the number of gondolas to 114, enabling it to carry over 600 passengers an hour in each direction.

[16] In 2006, it underwent an AU$2.5 million upgrade which included a replacement café, expanded ticketing services and a larger retail store.

[23] The 32 towers at Skyrail were built in 10×10 m clearings, and workers had to sterilise equipment and footwear before entering sites.

Russian Kamov helicopters were used extensively to carry equipment, materials and cement to tower sites and rainforest stations.

Helicopters carried 900 tonnes of steel, cement and building materials into the Barron Falls Station alone.

Because no roads were built during construction, workers walked to the tower sites each day with their equipment.

[28] In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Skyrail Rainforest Cable was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "structure and engineering feat".