Massive 4.6 kilometre seawall closes at Fisherman Islands

Issued by Minister for Transport and Main Roads

12 August 2004

The Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, today completed one of the most ambitious expansion projects ever undertaken at an Australian port when he officially closed a new 4.6 kilometre seawall at the Port of Brisbane.

Mr Lucas presided over the final closure of the massive wall which encircles 230 hectares to be reclaimed progressively from the waters off Fisherman Islands. The $90 million project was completed on budget and six months ahead of schedule.

The reclaimed land will allow wharf capacity to be extended from the current nine berths to 14-16, creating new jobs and wealth for Queensland through booming trade at the Port of Brisbane.

"It is not often we get so excited about a closure instead of an opening," Mr Lucas said.

"But this is a truly landmark project for Queensland," he said.

"With 1.8 kilometres of new shipping berths eventually being created, this project will establish Brisbane as one of Australia's premier ports now and in the future.

"The redeveloped port will be a key part of the Beattie Government's promotion of Queensland as a hub for the Asia-Pacific Region.

"I also am very pleased to say this project has been conducted according to the strictest environmental guidelines."

Mr Lucas said the development of the port also had other advantages, for example, freeing up former port land at Hamilton for urban renewal.

The seawall has been a Queensland project through and through, with the following local materials used in its construction:

* More than 1.25 million tonnes of rock railed from Beaudesert Blue Metal Quarries; * High-strength geotextile placed on the seabed stitched by Toowoomba company Darling Downs Tarpaulins, and * 425,000 cubic metres of sand from the port's maintenance dredging program.

The Port of Brisbane, which injects $770 million into the Queensland economy each year, is one of Australia's great ports success stories.

It is Australia's third busiest container port and in five years' time it will process one million freight units annually. The seawall is being managed by the Future Port Expansion Seawall Alliance, which includes Leighton Contractors, Coffey Geosciences, WBM Oceanics and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Mr Lucas said the Port of Brisbane Corporation would continue to monitor the settlement of the seawall.

Environmental monitoring has identified that all activity has met prescribed Environmental Protection Agency criteria.

Mr Lucas said the next phase of the project, expected to take 15 to 20 years, was reclaiming the 230 hectares of land enclosed by the seawall.

This will be done by filling in the enclosed area, one section at a time, with material from dredging works.

Port of Brisbane Corporation Chief Executive Officer Jeff Coleman said the completion of the seawall was the latest step in the corporation's strategy to facilitate growth and economic efficiencies at the Port of Brisbane.

"Brisbane is a fast-growth port, purpose-built for its users. "We are in the unique position of being able to reconfigure and expand our port to ensure maximum efficiencies for our customers, and ensure capacity for growth well into the future," he said.

Earlier this year P&O Ports and Patrick Corporation announced plans for the gradual relocation of their port activities to Fisherman Islands from Hamilton.

The need for the relocation was first recognised in the early 1970s when Fisherman Islands was identified as the preferred future location for Port of Brisbane.