Port of Brisbane

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Port of Brisbane
city = Brisbane City Council
state = Queensland

---

caption = Fisherman Island and the Port of Brisbane from space
fedgov = Division of Bonner
stategov = Electoral district of Lytton
lga = Brisbane City Council
postcode = 4178
dist1 = 22
location1= Brisbane GPO
near-nw =
near-n =
near-ne =
near-w = Brisbane Airport
near-e =
near-sw = Pinkenba
near-s = Lytton
near-se =

Port of Brisbane is the shipping port of Brisbane, on the east coast of Australia. It is located in the lower reaches of the Brisbane River on reclaimed land that was once called Fisherman's Island at the mouth of the river. It currently is the third busiest port in Australia and the nation's fastest growing container port. It includes the main shipping channel across the Moreton Bay which extends 90 km north to Mooloolaba and is dredged to maintain a depth fourteen metres at the lowest tide.

Queensland's next two largest ports are the Port of Gladstone and the Port of Townsville.

According to the Queensland Department of Primary Industries the Port of Brisbane was the most likely entry point of the South American fire ant to Australia. [cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s255089.htm |title=Queensland faces possibly worst ever introduced pest |accessdate=2008-04-28 |format= |date=2001-03-05 |work=The 7.30 Report ]

Facilities

The port is managed by the Port of Brisbane Corporation (PBC) and facilitates more than 2,600 ships each year. The Port of Brisbane has nine deep-water container berths and three deep-water bulk berths as well as 17 bulk and general cargo berths. In total the port transports more than 28 million tonnes of cargo each year. [http://www.bpa.net.au/aboutport]

There are two cruise ship wharves for Brisbane, with differing facilities. Portside Wharf was completed in 2006 and is an international standard facility for cruise liners, offering restaurants, coffee shops, gift shops, and more. However, due to the height restrictions of the Gateway Bridge, the larger ocean going cruise liners must dock further up the river at the more industrial standard Pinkenba Wharf. Pinkenba Wharf is managed by the Port of Brisbane authority.

The port accommodates a visitors centre and in 2005 a shorebird roost was constructed. The bird roost is the largest site built specifically for migratory shorebirds on the east coast of Australia.

Transport links

The Port of Brisbane Motorway is a short road linking the Gateway Motorway to the Port of Brisbane.

In 1980 a narrow gauge (1067 millimetres) railway line was opened between the port and a junction near Lindum on the Cleveland line. This was converted to dual 1435/1067 mm gauge in 1997 under the Keating Government's One Nation program. [cite web
url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=CRT45DlRXCQC&pg=PA191&dq=%22back+on+track%22+fisherman+island&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U3zG2t6LFUgiaIhg2jNmRZtMyC97Q
title=Australia's gauge muddle and prospects
work=Back on Track: Rethinking Transport Policy in Australia and New Zealand
author=Philip Laird
publisher=UNSW Press
year=2001
ISBN=086840411X
accessdate=2008-08-16
date=page 191] [cite web
url=http://www.rag.org.au/frag/fragbook.htm
title=A Critique of the Dual Gauge Link to the Port of Brisbane.
publisher=www.rag.org.au
accessdate=2008-03-30]

Expansion

The Port of Brisbane is currently under a large upgrade and extension spending AUS $50 million on infrastructure and a further AUS $100 million on equipment including over 25 automated straddle carriers owned by Patrick Corporation.

ee also

* Australia TradeCoast
* List of deep water ports
* Transport in Brisbane

References

External links

* [http://www.portbris.com.au Port of Brisbane]