Brisbane’s Queen's Wharf casino and resort complex is not due to reach its 265-metre ceiling until 2022. Indeed, as of this moment, it is 16 metres in the other direction.
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That is 16 metres below the old Executive Building’s ground-floor cabinet room, where premiers Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Russell Cooper, Mike Ahern, Wayne Goss, Peter Beattie, Anna Bligh, Campbell Newman and Annastacia Palaszczuk briefed the journalists of their times.
That means 90 Olympic swimming pools of fill have now been dig up and shifted out to Brisbane Airport, where it used to reclaim land for Brisbane’s new runway.
The huge construction hole necessary for the four hotels, casino, gardens and skywalks that will make up the $3.6 billion Queens Wharf Brisbane development has now reached the halfway excavation time point.
The next 10 metres, taking the construction site down to 26 metres, will be through bedrock known as Brisbane Tuff.
In early 2019 explosives will begin to be used to explode through the bedrock and remove the final 10 metres, Destination Brisbane project director Simon Crooks said.
Mr Crooks said a test blast a fortnight ago showed it was not loud with a blast mat was placed on top.
“It was a small thump, so Brisbane residents should not be too concerned,” he said.
Mr Crooks said the test blast barely registered on the noise measuring equipment on the site.
This excavation phase continues until August 2019.
Tourism Industry Minister Kate Jones said the excavation work had reached a significant stage.
“This is the halfway point in what is the largest excavation project undertaken in the city of Brisbane,” she said.
“More than 90 per cent of ground that is dug up here will be recycled and reused, most notably at the new runway at Brisbane Airport.”
The project produces 2000 construction jobs and the new hotels, casino, cafes, shops and restaurants are tipped to eventually employ 10,000 people after it opens in 2022.
Mr Crooks said 3500 truck loads of soil were removed in August alone.
“It’s been busy,” he said.
The site is where European civilisation began in Brisbane, slowly superseding the Aboriginal culture from May 1825.
Ms Jones said the early Brisbane history would be a feature of the Queen's Wharf site at its completion.
“It was very clear during the approval process and in talking with the builders and the Star Entertainment Group that they wanted to transform this area into a location where we can appreciate some of the oldest buildings here in Brisbane,” shesaid.
“For a long period of time pretty daggy 1970s and 1980s government buildings obscured some of the most historic buildings in our city.
“From day one, the project has always looked to enhance the opportunities for tourists and Queenslanders alike to some of Queensland’s hidden gems.”
The Indigenous history of the area will be told in stories in walkways and cycleways around the site.
