Urangan Pier

Urangan Pier
Urangan Pier on Christmas 2013
Coordinates	25°16′46″S 152°54′21″E / 25.2794°S 152.9058°E / -25.2794; 152.9058Coordinates: 25°16′46″S 152°54′21″E / 25.2794°S 152.9058°E / -25.2794; 152.9058
Carries	Pedestrians Used to carry trains & produce
Locale	Urangan, Queensland, Australia
Characteristics
Design	Pier
Material	Timber
Total length	868 metres (2,848 ft)
History
Construction begin	1913
Construction end	1917
Closed	1985 (for commercial use)

Urangan Pier is a historic pier in Urangan, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia.

It is a former deep-water, cargo-handling facility originally built to facilitate the export of sugar, timber and coal. The pier, served by the extension of the railway line from Pialba, was used for the transfer of cargo between rail and ships. It was built between 1913 and 1917, originally to a length of 1107 metres. The pier was closed in 1985, and 239 metres of it was demolished. However, due to public outcry, 868 metres of the pier was left, and the land was handed to the Hervey Bay City Council.

By 2009 the last 220-metre section of the pier had been fully restored, and the original timber pylons had been replaced with steel pylons with a plastic covering.

The original proposal to establish Urangan as a coal port for the Burrum River mining project did not eventuate due to several factors, mainly because the coal output did not reach original expectations. However, as the Wide Bay area was a chief producer of produce and freight, the Queensland Government made a decision to build a pier at Hervey Bay.

Construction on the Urangan Pier began in 1913. In order to reach the deep water channel, it was required to extend 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) (3690 ft) out to sea. Construction was very slow and finished in 1917. The Urangan railway line also began construction in 1913 and branched off the main railway line at Pialba. This line was extended along the Urangan Pier as it was being constructed. Once it was completed, it served as one of the main ports of Queensland.

Sugar was one of the main exports, however had to be transported from as far north as Bundaberg. When the Bundaberg Port was built in 1958, it took over sugar exports and the Urangan pier ceased exporting sugar. Timber, general cargo and produce was still exported until 1960, when Caltex built an oil terminal adjacent to the Pier. Soon after this was built, freight, goods and produce exports were stopped and fuel became the only import from the pier.