Bellingham's pontoon breathes life in to the Broadwater

by Bellingham Marine on 12 Sep 2009 Bellingham Marine Australia (BMA) recently contributed a little more to the rich history of the Gold Coast and completed another successful project in the Southport area.

The new look Southport Broadwater Parklands was officially opened on Sunday 23rd August 2009, by the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who arrived by jet boat and stepped safely onto a Bellingham Marine Pontoon.

BMA was contracted by one of Australia’s leading construction companies, Abigroup and the Gold Coast City Council, to design, construct and install a floating public access pontoon as part of the Gold Coast City Council’s major $42m rejuvenation to the existing Broadwater Parklands at Southport on the beautiful Gold Coast.

The Gold Coast City Council’s project brief for the Southport Broadwater Parklands site was to celebrate 150 years of Queensland (as a separate State from New South Wales), reconnect the Gold Coast’s Southport Business District with the Broadwater whilst incorporating World Class Design, generatea sense of community, regional identity, and celebrate the history of Southport.

With a brief such as that, Bellingham Marine Australia were keen to offer the services of their local Head Office and Factory situated in South East Queensland and unleash the technical talents of their local employees and contractors, many of whom had families who recall the original pier on the site, which was built way back in 1914.

One of our proud locals with many years of experience with the company was selected as the Bellingham Marine’s Site Manager, Bill Tattersall. Bill has shared with us, much of the rich history of the Pier. This together with the help of the Gold Coast City Council’s Website and the Gold Coast Bulletin, Bill has revealed many snippets of its rich history.

We’re told that before TV the Pier was the place to go and was considered by many as the centre of entertainment in Southport, as it also had a Theatre, which was built in 1926.

In 1932 fire raged through the pier burning the Theatre and kiosk next to it. It was rebuilt as the Pier Talkies, introducing the first films with voice and music to Southport. The Pier also held dances, skating contests and a range of
other activities. It had extensive promenades overlooking the water and a free amusement cafe, with games such as indoor golf and bowls.

“Concrete Cancer” set into the pier and brought festivities to an end, forcing the closure of the pier for public safety and in 1969 the Pier Talkies was demolished.

“This is one project our staff really felt very passionate about, being right at our back door allowing us to utilise all our local South-East Qld employees and contractors,' recalls John Spragg, GM Bellingham Marine Australia.

“It’s one they really related to, as some of our employees and contractors even grew up in the area and their families frequented the original Pier on the same site all those years ago. Coupled with that this is yet another successful project that Bellingham Marine Australia has completed well ahead of time, within budget and with exceptional quality components made right here at our local Queensland factory.”

Features of the pontoon include high stability, for public safety, a life performance to exceed 20 years, high 600mm freeboard and a structural fixed and hinged gangway system of 63m (206ft) in length, consisting of 3 fixed
gangways and 3 fixed intermediate landings leading to a 20m long hinged gangway, all of which was designed to be aesthetically pleasing, from not only the water and Parklands area, but also from the adjoining luxury high rise
apartment towers, dotted throughout the area. Detail design was done by local Brisbane Company, International Marina Consultants, directed by Bellingham Marine’s Brisbane Office.

Directly opposite this site is the world famous Southport Yacht Club, considered by many in the know, as the most prestigious Yacht Club in South-East Queensland.

Last year BMA completed the addition of the Super Yacht Berths and the installation of many more marina additional berths for the club, as part of the marina upgrade.

Other local projects have included Gold Coast City Marina, Gold Coast Marine Centre, Hope Island Resort Marina, Calypso Bay Marina, Ephraim Island Marina, Riverlinks Estate Marina, Ivory Coast Marina, Coomera Waters Marina
and Runaway Bay Marina, to name a few.

Most of which have used the company's patented Uni-float pontoon system, which itself has a history of over 50 years.
These and the Southport Project all came out of our zero low carbon, ISO 2001 accredited SE-Qld factory.

John goes on to say: 'In the last 10 Years alone the company has completed 500 marina projects and built approximately nine thousand Marina Berths supplied from the Brisbane Plant. Bellingham Marine Australia manages all the projects in Australia, South East Asia, the Middle East, Asia and Pacific Rim. In South-East Queensland alone has employed over three hundred people during this time.

"We're proud to be such a big part of the Gold Coast history and will continue to support the local economy, local work force, and continue to provide our services to the Marine Industries, Government Bodies and Local Developers
alike. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Queensland Transport, Gold Coast City Council, Abigroup, and the State Government for their vision and making the Broadwater Parklands Project such a success.
Happy 150th Birthday Queensland."