Posted on March 1, 2018
By Carlie Walker, Fraser Coast Chronicle
IT’S time to dredge the Mary River.
That’s what Maryborough’s State MP Bruce Saunders believes.
The last time the river was dredged was in the 1950s and he says the river is currently underutilised.
All that could change, however, if the river was dredged, Mr Saunders said.
Dredging involved the removal of sediment and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers and harbours.
It is viewed as a routine necessity in waterways throughout the world became sedimentation – the natural process of sand and silt washing downstream gradually fills channels and harbours.
Mr Saunders said dredging the river would mean bigger boats could travel up the river to Maryborough and the slipway.
“It would help the economy. It’s imperative that we get it done,” he said.
“It would open up the river. I don’t believe we are using the river to the full extent that we should be using the river.”
Mr Saunders said the cost of dredging the river was currently unknown, with costing yet to be done on any potential project.
He said he had started talking to various State Government departments as well as various stakeholders in the river as he pushed to make the dredging a realty.
Mr Saunders said the city had become RV friendly and it was now time to ensure it was more friendly for boaties.
“People could sail in here, bring bigger boats here,” he said.
With a new wharf going in at March St, Mr Saunders said getting the river moving would help get the city moving.
“We don’t appreciate the river or use it to its full advantage,” he said.
In the early days of Maryborough, a program of dredging was in place to ensure the river became deep and wide enough for navigation, but the construction of Urangan Pier allowed for a deep water port and by 1963, commercial shipping to Maryborough had ceased in favour of Urangan.
Source: Fraser Coast Chronicle
