Category: Queensland State Archives’ Photostream About Fortitude Valley

Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Increase in river silt

There was severe silting in the Brisbane River in the year ending June 30, the report of the Chief Engineer of the Harbours and Marine Department Harbours Branch (Mr. E. C. Fison) states.

The Treasurer (Mr. Larcombe) tabled the report in Parliament yesterday.

During the year 1,829,268 tons of silt were removed from the river, 1,234,534 tons having been pumped ashore to reclaim large areas behind the Royal Queensland golf links.

The report said dredges on the Hamilton Reach were having difficulty in maintaining 28 feet, low water spring tide.

Twenty-eight feet is considered adequate for tidal navigation of the river, but shipowners have asked for a 30ft. low tide depth to enable safe navigation at all times, of fully laden ships.

The Harbours and Marine Department has announced plans to dredge the river to 30 feet as soon as possible.

Description source:
The Courier-Mail, 14 October 1949

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Bowls or lawn bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls to that they stop close to a smaller ball called a “jack” or “kitty”. It is played on a bowling green which may be flat (for “flat-green bowls”) or convex or uneven (for “crown green bowls”). It is normally played outdoors (although there are many indoor venues) and the outdoor surface is either natural grass, artificial turf, or cotula (in New Zealand).

Bowls in one of the “core sports” that must be included in each edition of the Commonwealth Games. With the exception of the 1966 Games, the sport has been included in all Games since their inception in 1930. The 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane included the first-ever event for women in lawn bowls with a Triples tournament introduced. Australia won six medals for lawn bowls in the Brisbane

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Archery is the sport, practice or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite.

From the 1920s, professional engineers took an interest in archery, previously the exclusive field of traditional craft experts. They led the commercial development of new forms of bow including the modern recurve and compound bow. These modern forms are now dominant in modern Western archery; traditional bows are a minority.

In the 1980s, the skills of traditional archery were revived by American enthusiasts, and combined with the new scientific understanding. Much of this expertise if

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Athletics is a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking.

The results of racing events are decided by finishing position (or time, where measured), while the jumps and throws are won by the athlete that achieves the highest or furtherest measurement from a series of attempts.

The simplicity of the competitions, and the lack of a need for expensive equipment, makes athletics one of the most commonly competed sports in the world. Athletics is mostly an individual sport, with the exception of relay races and competitions which combine athlete’s performances for a team score, such as cross country.

Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC. The rules and format of the modern events in athletics were defined in

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Following the closing of the Games, the Queen and Duke left the stand to be driven from the stadium. However, nobody wanted the Games to end and the Australian team formed a ‘guard of honour’ and ran beside and behind the car in which Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were travelling, as it circled the stadium several times before finally leaving. Team members from other countries also joined in running after the royal car.

Description source:
Wikipedia

View the original image at the Queensland State Archives:
Digital Image ID 45482

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Queen Elizabeth II closed the Games during a colourful ceremony, which included parachute jumpers jumping and landing in a special target area within the stadium and red, white and blue balloons. Matilda the Kangaroo also winked at the Queen.

Description source:
Wikipedia

View the original image at the Queensland State Archives:
Digital Image ID 45487

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Busy Wharves.

The South Brisbane reach had one of its busiest days yesterday, when every inch of wharfage accommodation was occupied by shipping. At the Short-street wharf the Cornwall is engaged in discharging about 1000 tons of cargo from the United Kingdom. The Dundula, which arrived from Sydney on Monday, is at the Adelaide wharf, where the Canadian Constructor is loading about 3000 bales of wool for New York, Boston, and Halifax.

At the Musgrave Wharf the Himalaya Maru is loading 1000 tons of cargo for Japan, the Limerick is loading 5000 bales of wool, and a quantity of butter and general merchandise for Continental and United Kingdom ports, and the Opawa is discharging 2000 tons of cargo from the United Kingdom. The motor ship Eknaren, which arrived at the Brisbane Milling Company’s wharf from Gothenburg yesterday, will discharge 750 tons of cargo before proceeding south.

Description

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Deepen River To Take Big Ships

When the Brisbane River main channel, from the Pile Light to Hamilton, is dredged to 31ft., the largest ships trading to Australia will be able to visit Brisbane.

The Acting Treasurer (Mr. Walsh) announced on Monday that overseas tenders would be called to deepen the river between Pile Light and Brett’s Wharf, Hamilton.

Experts said yesterday that about 5 million tons of mud and clay would have to be dredged. The job would take two years.

It is understood that British, Norwegian, German, and Dutch firms have examined Brisbane River silt problems and that each will submit quotations when tenders are called, probably early next year.

A start on the big project is possible about June, 1952. At present the State dredge fleet clears 2,500,000 tons of mud from the river each year.

The Harbours and Marine Department Chief Engineer (Mr. E. C. Fison) said

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Overseas Passenger Ships For Brisbane?

Brisbane may win back this year the visits by major British tourist liners.

Orient Line’s 23,700-ton Orion may call at Brisbane on a Pacific cruise before the end of this year, and one of the P. & O. Co’s “Straths” is a likely caller also.

This would ease Brisbane’s fears that the withdrawal of the P. & O. liners Mooltan and Maloja last year would end the trade in big ships to Brisbane.

The Orient Line withdrew the liner Ormonde from the Brisbane rune in October. 1952, and so far has not announced any replacement.

Big liners to-day must make four trips from Britain to Australia to pay. If they go to Brisbane they could only make three.

But Brisbane has claimed that Queensland has a cargo and passenger right to see the bigger, better ships.

Its port facilities have improved, its river is deeper (because of

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Queensland State Archives posted a photo:

Hamilton Cold Stores.

The construction of the buildings to be used as State cold stores at Hamilton is in the hands of the Works Department; the wharf is being built under the supervision of the Harbours and Rivers Department. It was ascertained from the Under Secretary for Works and Government Architect (Mr. A. . Brady) yesterday that his department had completed the fencing of the stores site.

Eighty-one piles for the compressor house had been cast and were maturing, and a pile-driving frame was in course of erection. The brickwork of the office block had been built to about 10ft., the door and window frames had been fixed, and the roof principals were ready for fixing. The materials on hand included 1400 bags of cement, 200 tons of steel reinforcement, 40 tons of structural steel, a pile-driving engine, and the timber for the office block.

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