Dredge plan is on course
NEVER has a big, ugly dredging vessel looked quite as handsome as the one churning up visual vindication from its moorings at Trinity Wharf.
The arrival of Danish suction hopper dredge Balder R has lifted a weight off Cairns MP Michael Healy’s shoulders as evidence the State Government is pushing ahead with the Cairns Shipping Development.
“It’s happening, the dredge is there and within 10 days dredging will start,” he said.
“It’s part of a commitment Labor and I gave to the community, and it is fulfilled.
“Next step, the convention centre.”
The $127 million plan to widen and deepen the Trinity Inlet shipping channel will run over 12 weeks.
Construction is well underway for 8km of pipelines to pump the dredge spoil to its final resting place at the Northern Sands quarry at Holloways Beach.
However, until now, there had been no sign of the vessel carrying out the work.
“I know it’s been a long process and I see the frustrations of a lot of people,” he said.
“But they need to appreciate there were significant environmental concerns that had to be taken into account.”
The 2011-built vessel, owned by Denmark company Rohde Nielsen A/S, arrived in Cairns by way of Singapore, and was previously stationed in Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
It was based in the Gold Coast in 2017 carrying out a program to replenish the Glitter Strip’s coastline.
On that project, it was not encumbered by the added complexities of pumping the spoil through a long series of pipes onto land. It showed in the final price. The $13.9 million Gold Coast project involved dredging about three million cubic metres of sand – three times as much as the Cairns Shipping Development for about 8 per cent of the cost.
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