While the project might have been shelved for about two years after it was found the original framework was beginning to erode before it was finished, work to get it done has progressed at an accelerated rate.

Katherine Town Council, in charge of the project, has confirmed stage one - the walkway leading down to the springs - is more or less complete. Once guard rails have been established, it will be ready to go.

Now workers are swiftly laying the foundations for concrete paths at the top section - stage two.

Working against the clock and the current heatwave, tradies have poured almost all the concrete for the winding paths and expect to be finished by early next week.

Concrete slabs will also be poured for the Pop Rocket Cafe - back for its fifth season next year once the weather is being more reasonable.

Once the paths are complete, it is over to the council for landscaping.

There have been multiple assertions from the Mayor of Katherine that no more trees will be cut down in the process, and so far only one tree - classified by council as 'dead' - and a small sapling growing in the way of a path, have been removed.

As for the much anticipated turtle playground - it is still in the final stages of design and not yet ready to be viewed by the public.

"We are excited to provide an inclusive playground that caters for those with non-able bodies, planned to be installed in April 2020," a council spokeswoman said.

"This project is almost finished and we are super excited."

Lots of additional rocks were brought in for the stage one fix-up, paths already set were ripped up and poured again, and deep footings have been constructed to stabilise the eroded river bank.

The $2 million upgrade, when first announced in April 2016, was initially to be completed by the end of that year, but the work was found to be faulty and high fences were placed to block anyone from entering.

Repair work began again late this year and the springs has been a hive of activity with contractors and heavy machinery since.

More recently, a contentious council decision was made to reallocate $1.5 million from the $5 million CBD Revitalisation project to the springs' fix.

Almost $400,000 of the CBD money had already been spent on contracting architects to deliver a plan for the revamp, and with the siphoning off of money to the hot springs, that upgrade money now totals just $3 million.

Throughout all of this, the council has maintained the project will be completed next month, just in time for the wet season.

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