Department of Ports and Harbours,
Brisbane, 26th August, 1891.
Sir,—I have the honour to submit, for your information, the followingReport concerning this Department for the past year:—
I assumed charge on the 1st July, 1890, and found that the heavy galesand floods experienced in January of the same year had most seriouslyaffected several of the dredged cuttings of the Brisbane, Mary, Burnett,and Fitzroy Rivers. In some places the Brisbane River had silted up tosuch an extent that there were fully 18 inches less water than beforethe flood. This, however, only proved a temporary inconvenience, as thedredges soon restored the cuttings to their original depths. I alsofound that considerable changes had taken place in the formation of thebanks at the northern entrance to Moreton Bay, necessitating theremoval—to make the lead effective—of Tangaluma Light (which had onlybeen established in 1885), also the removal (for the fourth time) of theYellow Patch Light, and the building of two new cottages for thelightkeepers. Owing to the encroachment of the sea, it had also beenfound necessary to remove Comboyuro Point Lighthouse and the keeper'scottage some 200 feet further inland. This work was accomplished by theInspector, Mr. H. L. Pethebridge. The floating beacon which marked thenorthern entrance to the port had been ashore on Bribie Island for sometime, but, during the first interval of settled westerly weather, shewas floated and brought to Brisbane to be repaired and supplied with newmoorings, after which she was on the 8th August replaced in her formerposition, and by the end of October the works of the Departmentgenerally, which had suffered in the early portion of the year, wererestored.
In January and February of the present year another series of heavygales was experienced along the whole coast of the Colony, and on the6th, 7th, and 8th of June a gale of unusual severity, accompanied bytorrents of rain, swept along the coast from Bowen southwards, causingheavy seas and abnormally high tides. Such unfavourable weather, ofcourse, occasioned considerable loss to the Department, a great numberof buoys being driven from their moorings (some lost altogether), andbeacons and other plant receiving a large amount of damage.
The banks at the northern entrance to Moreton Bay are constantlyshifting, and the maintenance of the necessary lights and buoys toenable vessels to enter and clear the port in safety is a source ofcontinual anxiety. The floating beacon, which had broken adrift duringthe month of February, disappeared altogether on the 10th March; andalthough diligently searched for, no trace of her has been discovered.Two valuable buoys disappeared from the outer banks about the same time.The floating beacon has been replaced by a new second-class (Trinitypattern) steel conical buoy, surmounted with a staff and cage, the topof which is 12 feet above the water, forming a most conspicuous object.New buoys have been moored in the positions of those lost.
No. 1 cutting, Hamilton Reach, has now a depth of 17 feet at low water,spring tides; and the entrance to the bar cutting is being dredged to asimilar depth. The increased depth of water in these cuttings is ofconsiderable importance to vessels of heavy draught. A depth of 15 feetat low water, spring tides, is fully maintained in the other cuttings,but there are several shallow places in the town reaches of the riverwhich require attention.
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