Hamilton Reach

Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River, circa 1912

Hamilton Reach is a reach of the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.[1]

Geography

Open Street Map - Hamilton Reach, Brisbane River

Hamilton Reach flows from west (upstream) to east (downstream). The suburb of Hamilton is on its northern bank (and is most likely the origin of the name of the reach). The suburbs of Bulimba and Morningside lie to the south.[2]

History

Sailboat racing at Hamilton Reach (Bulimba Hill in the background)

The Hamilton Reach is popular for water sports. It is popular for recreational and competitive sailing.

The Australian Rowing Championships were held at Hamilton Reach in 1904,[3] 1909,[4] and 1951.[5] The Australian University Rowing Championships were held there in 1937,[6] 1937[7] and 1955.[8]

Prior to World War II, flying boats used Hamilton Reach as their base. However, the level of river traffic and the lack of night lighting resulted in the flying boats relocating to Redland Bay.[9]

Portside Wharf River Walkway

Historically, the Brisbane River had many commercial wharves used for the shipping of goods and passengers. However, with the growth in the size of ships, the increasing residential characters of the suburbs alongside the river, and the need to construct bridges over the river, most commercial shipping is now handled at the Port of Brisbane at the mouth of the Brisbane River and beyond into Moreton Bay through land reclamation. Former commercial wharves and associated on-shore industrial facilities along the Brisbane River are frequently redeveloped into residential and leisure facilities.

While Hamilton Reach has seen a number of such re-developments e.g., Portside and Northshore Hamilton, unlike many other parts of the river, it has retained some commercial shipping activity. The Portside redevelopment combines residential and retail facilities with the cruise liner terminal Portside Wharf. However, increasing, larger cruise liners cannot be accommodated due to a combination of the height restrictions of the Gateway Bridge and the inability to turn the vessels within the river, forcing such ships to use the Port of Brisbane or other industrial wharves downsteam. As these alternative wharves lack adequate facilities for leisure travellers, consideration is being given to constructing a new passenger terminal further downstream or elsewhere within Moreton Bay, e.g., on the Gold Coast.[10][11]

Cairncross Dockyard

Cairncross Dock, 1949

Hamilton Reach features the Cairncross Dockyard at Morningside, which is one of Australia's largest graving docks with an 8.5 metre deep water access, capable of taking Panamax vessels of up to 85,000 dwt, up to 263 metres long x 33.5 metres wide. It is second in size only to the Royal Australian Navy's Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island in Sydney Harbour.[12]

The bombing of Darwin in February 1942 during World War II created an urgent need to increase Australia's capacity to service large naval and merchant ships. The South Brisbane dockyards (built in the 1880s) were too small to accommodate many modern ships plus the construction of the Story Bridge impacted on the access to that dockyard. A larger dockyard downsteam of the Story Bridge and an area near Thynne Road, Morningside on the Hamilton Reach was chosen. Construction of the Brisbane Graving Dock commenced in September 1942 with workers and equipment redeployed from the Somerset Dam project.[13]

Although the name was to be the Brisbane Graving Dock, the site of the dockyards was on top of the riverside feature, the Cairncross Rocks, and so it acquired the name Cairncross. Cairncross Rocks in turn were named after one of Brisbane's pioneer businessmen Willam Cairncross who built Colmslie House in Bulimba.[13][14]

The first ship entered the dockyard on 22 June 1944. Although owned by the Queensland Government, the Commonwealth Government controlled its use until after World War II. A major refurbishment of the dockyard occurred in the 1970s. However, frequent industrial action at the dockyard caused many large ships to be out of service far longer than needed and large ship owners became reluctant to use the dockyard. This was a major factor in the dockyard being unprofitable, leading to its closure in 1987.[13]

In August 1995, the dock was re-opened by a private consortion, the Keppel Cairnscross Shipyard Limited, who undertook a major refurbishment. However, it closed again on 4 July 2014, saying there was not enough work as ship owners were deterred from using it due to the high Australian dollar and a reputation for industrial unrest and government over-regulation.[12]

Transport

Northshore Hamilton ferry wharf, Queensland 16

There are three ferry terminals on Hamilton Reach (from upstream to downstream):[15]

All these wharves are on the CityCat route along the Brisbane River with Northshore currently being the most downstream.

References

  1. ↑ "Hamilton Reach (entry 15283)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Universal Business Directories Pty. Ltd (1997), Brisbane 1997 : includes Gold Coast & Sunshine Coast (41st ed.), UBD, a Division of Universal Press Pty. Ltd, ISBN 978-0-7319-0886-8
  3. ↑ "1904 Interstate Championships". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "1909 Interstate Championships". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "1951 Interstate Championships". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "1931 Australian University Championships— Brisbane River Brisbane QLD". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "1937 Australian University Championships— Brisbane River Brisbane QLD". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "1955 Australian University Championships— Brisbane River, Brisbane QLD". History of Australian Rowing. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  9. ↑ Tuffley, David. "Redland Bay Flying Boat Base". Griffith University. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Ironside, Robyn (6 August 2014). "Battle looms for Australian cruise capital status as potential new terminal in Brisbane flagged as a challenge to Sydney's dominance". Herald Sun. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  11. ↑ Stephens, Kim (13 February 2014). "Gold Coast cruise ship terminal plan gets government's approval". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  12. 1 2 Wilson, Jim (10 July 2014). "Report, reaction & analysis - Forgacs closes Cairncross shipyard". Lloyd's List Australia. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 "Cairncross Dock" (PDF). Engineers Australia. 1995. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. ↑ "Cairncross Rocks (entry 39169)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hamilton Reach". Google Maps. Retrieved 22 January 2015.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hamilton Reach.

Coordinates: 27°26′24″S 153°03′18″E / 27.440°S 153.055°E / -27.440; 153.055

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