Challenge
Judaculla Rock is a 2,000-3,000 year old soapstone boulder, the Southeast’s largest petroglyph, and a sacred site on a Native American settlement in North Carolina. Cherokee legend attributes the markings to a protective, slant-eyed giant who left his foot and hand prints on the rock. Jackson County Parks and Recreation needed to construct an observation deck in order to accomplish three things: prevent damage from pedestrian foot traffic, enhance the visitor experience, and appease the seven-fingered Judaculla giant.
Solution
Collaborating with Equinox Environmental, PermaTrak designed a horseshoe-shaped observation deck complete with several cantilevered lookout points extending towards Judaculla Rock. “The craftsmanship and engineering on it made for an easy project to install,” said installer Doug Parker. Non-intrusive precast concrete pier foundations made certain the installation and finished product respected the integrity of the land.
Fred Grogan of Equinox Environmental reported, “The PermaTrak system was selected for this project over a wooden structure based on a number of factors. These included ease of ongoing maintenance, ability of prefabricated components to easily achieve design intent of the observation deck, as well as minimal installation costs by utilizing in-house Jackson County employees.”
