The river is dammed by the Wivenhoe dam. This dam was completed in 1985 to regulate the flow of water down the river. Planning for the dam was initiated after the disastrous flood of 1974.
An article in Wikepedia on The Brisbane River wikipedia-The Brisbane River suggests there is much environmental concern over the river.
"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.
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."
Now that I've done my environmental bit, let's look at some pictures.
Nine major bridges span the river in Brisbane, and to relieve congestion on city roads, the Queensland government transport agency called Translink operates a Ferry Service with five crossings across the river or a catamaran shuttle service that runs from Bretts Wharf in the north east of the city to the University of Queensland in the south east of the city. (The river flows from south west to north east at this point in it's travels.
The CityCat is a catamaran that can take seventy or eighty people sitting in reasonable comfort inside the main cabin or sitting and standing at the front or rear of the boat with the wind blowing through your hair.
We rode for some of the time at the front of the boat and for most of the time at the rear. The views of the city and buildings and other boats on the river were stupendous.
This is the CityFerry that plies the river crossings in the city.
The river makes a U turn through downtown, this is the Central Business District on the west side of the U ...
... this is a paddle steamer that is used to take tourists on day trips up and down the river ...
... and this is the Central Business District on the east side of the U...
... and this is the Story Bridge - the largest steel cantilevered bridge in Australia. The bridge marks the northern and eastern limits of the Central Business District and connects the CBD to Kangaroo Point.
No comments:
Post a Comment