Brisbane River

Brisbane River
Captain Cook Bridge from Kangaroo Point Lookout
Origin	Conondale Range
Basin countries	Australia
Length	344 km
Basin area	13,600 km²

The Brisbane River is situated in southeast Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. The river is dammed by the Wivenhoe Dam, forming Lake Wivenhoe, the main water supply for Brisbane. The river was named after the Governor of New South Wales Thomas Brisbane by the explorer John Oxley in 1823.

The CityCat ferry service collects and delivers passengers along the inner-city reaches of the river. The Port of Brisbane manages the movement of larger vessels into the river from the bay.

Contents 1 History 1.1 20th century 1.2 Navigation 2 Course 2.1 Kangaroo Point Cliffs 2.2 Tributaries 3 Bridges 4 Brisbane Riverwalk 5 Floods 6 Environmental concerns 6.1 Brisbane River Cod 7 Events 8 See also 9 Citations 10 References 11 External links

History

Before European settlement, the Brisbane River was a vital food source for the aboriginal people of the Turrbal Nation. The Turrbal people were a fishing people. The river was also important to the Turrbal people for spiritual and recreational activities.

Four European navigators, namely Captain Cook, Matthew Flinders, John Bingle and William Edwardson, all visited Moreton Bay but failed to discover the river. The exploration by Flinders took place during his expedition from Port Jackson north to Hervey Bay in 1799. He spent a total of 15 days in the area, touching down at Woody Point several other spots, but failed to discover the mouth of the river although there were suspicions of its existence. This is consistent with accounts of many other rivers along the east coast of Australia, which could not be found by seaward exploration but were discovered by inland travellers.^[1]

On 21 March 1823, four ticket-of-leave convicts sailed south from Sydney bound for Illawarra on a timber getting mission. Their names were Thomas Pamphlett, John Finnegan, Richard Parsons and John Thompson. Caught in a storm which took them out to sea, they were blown north instead and went 21 days without water, during which time Thompson died. They landed on Moreton Island on 16 April and made it to the mainland on the south of the Brisbane River. They immediately began trekking north in order to return to Sydney, still believing themselves to be somewhere south of Jervis Bay.^[2] Subsequently they became the first known Europeans to discover the river, stumbling across it somewhere near the entrance. They walked upstream along its banks for nearly a month before making their first crossing at 'Canoe Reach', the junction of Oxley Creek. It was here they 'procured' a small canoe.

John Oxley was Surveyor General of New South Wales when, in the same year and under orders from Governor Brisbane, he sailed into Moreton Bay looking for a suitable new site for a convict settlement to be established. An entry in Oxley's diary on 19 November 1823 describes his surprise meeting with one of the shipwrecked men:

"We rounded the Point Skirmish about 5 o'clock and observed a number of natives running along the beach towards the vessel, the foremost much lighter in colour than the rest. We were to the last degree astonished when he came abreast the vessel to hear him hail us in good English."

By that time Pamplett and Finnegan were living with natives near Bribie Island. Parsons, who had continued to travel north in search of Sydney, was never heard of again.

On the 2 December 1823, Oxley and Stirling, with Finnegan as a somewhat reluctant guide, entered the river and sailed began to said upstream until they came as far as present-day Goodna.^[3][4] Oxley noted the abundant fish and tall pine trees. Early European explorers marvelled at the sheer natural beauty they witnessed while travelling up the lower reaches. Reports by early European explorers such as Allan Cunningham and Oxley indicate rainforest once fringed the Brisbane River and its major tributaries, especially on the broader floodplains such as St. Lucia and Seventeen Mile Rock. The coastal lowlands were extensively vegetated with Melaleuca woodlands in low lying, poorly drained coastal areas. When first described by Europeans, the lower reaches of the Brisbane River were fringed by a mosaic of open forest, closed forest and rainforest.^[5]

In the same year of 1823, the river was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the then Governor of New South Wales.

Upon the establishment of a local settlement in 1824, other explorers such as Allan Cunningham, Patrick Logan and Major Edmund Lockyer made expeditions and surveys further upstream, and, in 1825, the Moreton Bay penal colony at Redcliffe relocated to North Quay.^[6]

The first small private wharves were built on the river in about 1848.^[7] and the once popular, shark-proof river baths were first built in 1857 at Kangaroo Point.^[8]

From 1862 the Brisbane River has been dredged for navigation purposes.^[9] Throughout much of the 20th century large quantities of sand and gravel were extracted from the estuary of the river. Since the rate of materials being deposited is not as high as that which was removed, the river has acted as a subaqueous mine.

In 1866 there was a breakwater built at the junction of the Bremer and Brisbane rivers that was designed to stop shingle from blocking the access to the Bremer's boat channel. The first pile light using kerosene was built in 1882.^[10] The steel framed light also served as an early port signal station.

20th century

For some time the growth and settlement of Brisbane has adversely impacted the Brisbane River. By 1928 the water quality had deteriorated to the point where several public baths had to cease sourcing water from the river.^[11]

Even up to the 1930s, the water was very clear, with reports of people seeing the river bed 5 or 6m below the surface. In the middle tidal reaches today, visibility is about 0.2m.^[12] As Brisbane grew, the river became a handy open sewer and waste dump. The banks were cleared of timber and introduced animals rapidly changed the river's ecology.^[13]

On the 25 March 1941, a USA goodwill flotilla arrived in the city docking at wharves along the River.^[14]

1987 was proclaimed the "Year of the River" by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane at the time, Sallyanne Atkinson.

Navigation

There has been much dredging and widening work done over the years to allow ships to transport cargo to and from Brisbane. The river has served as an important carriageway between Brisbane and Ipswich before a railway linking the towns was built in 1875.^[6] By early 1825 buoys were being laid along the South Passage and shortly after that the first pilots were commissioned to guide ships entering from Moreton Bay and another service for those travelling upstream.^[15] Flying boats used the waters of the river in Pinkenba, to take-off for domestic and international destinations in the 1930s.^[16]

The river depth was progressively increased and narrow points widened to allow larger vessels into the river and further upstream. For navigation and safety reasons the Seventeen Mile Rocks were completely removed in 1965 after numerous partially successful attempts in the past. The northern river bank at the mouth of the river has undergone reclamation projects over the years, especially in the suburbs of Hamilton and Pinkenba. More recently, extensive port facilities have been constructed on Fisherman's Island which has also seen significant land reclamation into the bay.

Early rivers crossings were made using small oared boat ferries, beginning in 1843 ^[17], followed by steam ferries. In 1865 the first Victoria Bridge, later destroyed in a flood, was built across the river. Professor Hawken of the University of Queensland undertook a study in 1914 to identify the future crossing points for the river.

Historically, the Brisbane River contained upstream bars and shallows and has a natural tidal limit of only 16km. The current tidal limit now extends 85km upstream due to continual channel dredging.^[18]

Course

Brisbane River's source is located in the Conondale Range, east of Kingaroy. It then makes its way south, past Mount Stanley, and townships including Moore and Toogoolawah before joining with the Stanley River, just south of Somerset Dam. The river runs from there into Lake Wivenhoe, created by the Wivenhoe Dam. Beyond the dam, the river meanders eastward, meeting the Bremer River near Ipswich, then making its way through Brisbane's western suburbs, including Jindalee, Indooroopilly and Toowong. Through the city, the river is travelled upon by CityCats, winding its way through the city centre. The Brisbane River then flows through the Port of Brisbane area and out into Moreton Bay.

Kangaroo Point Cliffs

On the southern side of the river, opposite Gardens Point, are the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. The Kangaroo Point Cliffs were created by a quarrying operation that according to Allan Cunninghams' Field Book, was underway prior to 1829 when he observed a "stone wharf presumably used for landing the blocks of stone ferried across the river for the construction of buildings in the settlement" this was in the vicinity of Edward Street ferry terminal. The volcanic rock or rhyolite lava flows which form the cliffs were deposited in the Tertiary period about 30 million years ago and filled up an ancient river valley. They currently form the banks of the Brisbane River.

Tributaries

The following major tributaries flow into the Brisbane River from the north; Breakfast Creek, Moggill Creek and the Stanley River

On the southside Bulimba Creek, Norman Creek, Oxley Creek, Bremer River and Lockyer Creek waterways enter the Brisbane River.

The following smaller creeks also flow into the river; Cressbrook Creek, Cooyar Creek, Cubberla Creek, Wolston Creek, Woogaroo Creek, Goodna Creek, Six Mile Creek, Bundamba Creek, Pullen Pullen Creek and Kholo Creek.

Bridges

Main article: Bridges of Brisbane

Currently the Brisbane River is crossed by 13 major bridges, including the historic Story Bridge and the tolled Gateway Bridge. There are two other major bridges upstream west of Brisbane, on the D'Aguilar Highway and the Brisbane Valley Highway.

Brisbane Riverwalk

The Brisbane City Council has been developing a network of riverwalk pavements along the banks of the Brisbane River.^[19] Jim Soorley, a former mayor of Brisbane, encouraged serious investment into the quality and capacity of the Brisbane riverwalk. An interesting section is the floating walkway between the Story Bridge and Merthyr Street New Farm. Brisbane City planners require many developers of formerly private riverfront blocks to create new sections of the Brisbane Riverwalk that are accessible to the public.

Floods

The Brisbane River floods frequently, although the occurrence and magnitude of flooding has diminished following the construction of the Wivenhoe Dam on the upper reaches of the River.

Past floods have resulted in both deepening and reduction in river depth, creation of new sand banks and shoals as well as increased transport of suspended sediment from upstream. Before the invention of modern dredging techniques the sediment deposited by flooding created hazards to ships navigating the river. Even medium sized vessels no longer travel up the Brisbane River beyond the city reach, and dredging of the upper reaches has ceased, allowing the river to recover substantially from the fine silt dislodged by gravel and sand extraction.

Significant floods have occurred several times since the European settlement of Brisbane. The most significant of these events was the 1974 Brisbane Flood. Notable instances of flooding include:

• 14 January 1841 (Highest flood level to date)
• March 1890
• February 1893, a sequence of flood peaks over some three weeks saw the highest recorded flood level in the Brisbane central business district. Seven lives were lost in the Eclipse Colliery at North Ipswich as a direct result of the flooding. Several other lives were lost to drownings.
• February 1931
• 27 January 1974 (Largest flood to affect Brisbane City in the 20th Century).

Flooding along the Brisbane River has the potential to be devastating. For much of the river's length its banks are relatively high, but topped by a broad plain. The river's sinuous course means that flood waters from upstream cannot be quickly discharged into Moreton Bay. Thus higher than normal flows cause river levels to rise rapidly and once the top of the banks are breached the floodwaters can spread over wide areas of the city.

Environmental concerns

During the 1800s and early 20th century, the river's surface was periodically choked by large swathes of the noxious weed known as water hyacinth. The plant was originally imported from South America.^[20]

Environmentally, the river is in a poor condition and has been so for many years. The major causes of pollution are excess nutrients, hydrocarbons, pesticides and bacteria which become concentrated in the river and its sediment after flowing off surrounding lands. This river is also considered too murky and it is not recommended to swim in its waters.^[21]

Historically, the river was actively dredged by Boral Sands Inc, ostensibly to make the river navigable. The constant extraction of river bed material by dredges has had considerable effect on the river. These impacts include increased turbidity, bed and bank erosion and changes in tidal hydraulics. The tidal nature of the river and the generally muddy nature of the sands removed by dredging created a woefully sludgy clayey sediment load in the river which did not clear. The efficacy of dredging the river upstream of the city reach to make it "navigable" was always in doubt, and the effect of the artificial sediment load in Moreton Bay grew to concern environmentalists worried that sediment was choking sea grass paddocks which were grazing territory for dugong. In a meeting concerning the matter in October 1996, including two State Government Ministers and three Mayors, an agreement to cease the dredging of sand and gravel from the river by September 30, 1997 was formed. Boral Resources Pty. Ltd. resisted the agreement, but ultimately all dredging was stopped by the agreed date.

The river has several important ecological areas where remnant populations of mangroves exist; these include areas around drainage culverts, in Breakfast Creek, New Farm, a small preserve at the city bend, near the Queensland University of Technology and around the shipping terminals at the river's terminus into Moreton Bay.

These mangroves have recently become classified as protected nature reserves.

Brisbane River Cod

The freshwater reaches of the Brisbane River once supported a unique species of cod, similar to Murray cod and closely related to eastern freshwater cod. Unfortunately this unique native fish became extinct somewhere between the 1930s and 1950's due to habitat degradation and overfishing. The river has been restocked with cod from the Mary River.

Events

The Brisbane River hosts numerous events including the Riverfestival, Riverfire and the Brisbane River Classic fishing competition. Many schools and clubs use the river to conduct rowing regattas on Milton Reach. Sailing regattas are also held on this reach as well as the Hamilton reach.

See also

• Brisbane River Stage
• Pinkenba Wharf

Citations

References

• Department of Harbours and Marine 1986 "Harbours and Marine Port and Harbour Development in Queensland from 1824 to 1985" pp. 25 Queensland Government Department of Harbours and Marine
• J. G. Steele 1975 Brisbane Town in Convict Days 1824-42 pp. 118 University of Queensland Press
• Longhurst, Robert; William Douglas. The Brisbane River: A pictoral history. Brisbane, W.D. Incorporated Pty. Ltd.
• McLeod, G Roderick (1990). "Some aspects of the History of the Brisbane River". In Peter Davie, Errol Stock, Darryl Low Choy (Ed.), The Brisbane River: a source-book for the future, Australian Littoral Society in association with the Queensland Museum.

External links

• Historical Brisbane River Map
• History of Brisbane flooding — Bureau of Meteorology official website
• Brisbane Riverwalk Map
• Murray Cod
• Album of 1893 Brisbane Flood Photographs These images are held by the State Library of Queensland, Reference Code: API-82.