Services will be temporarily cancelled from a ferry terminal in Brisbane's west so a multimillion-dollar upgrade can be completed.
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A development application for the upgrade to the 1996-constructed Guyatt Park ferry terminal was lodged on Monday.
Brisbane City Council has been gradually upgrading its terminals to meet disability standards and increase flood resilience following the 2011 floods.
More than 180,000 passengers travel to and from the Guyatt Park terminal every year.
Architect Brendan Cox, who designed the world’s first flood-resilient ferry terminals for Brisbane, questioned why the previous terminals failed in a recent TedEx presentation.
“Firstly their profile presented a broad, blunt obstruction to the flood ... incredibly vulnerable to destruction,” he said.
“We knew intuitively we couldn’t repeat that model, we would have to craft a new terminal that presented the smallest possible target so the next deluge and the next flood would simply go around it.”
Engineer Arne Nilsen who co-presented the TedEx talk said previous terminals had pontoons shaped like a brick so they capsized and sank.
“Our solution was deceptively simple, we designed a new pontoon shaped like a boat. Simple and yet it seemed nobody had thought about doing this before,” he said.
“When the next flood comes no people should be put in harm's way to protect the ferry terminals. This is a set-and-forget solution.”
The existing pontoon, gangway and marine piles at Guyatt Park will be demolished as part of the upgrade to a new dual-berth pontoon, gangway, rest area and fixed walkway can be built.
The existing waiting facilities and pathway will be refurbished.
Council’s public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner said passengers would get both a terminal upgrade and new SpeedCat services in the coming year.
“Council has been progressively upgrading its ferry terminal network with flood-resilient terminals with dual-berthing capacity and full accessibility for wheelchairs and prams.
The assessment report submitted as part of the development application said the new terminal would not be an identical design to that at Milton and Regatta but was still designed to adequately resist flood waters and debris.
“The new pontoon will be structurally superior with enhanced flood resistance and stability against wave action and vessel wash,” the report said.
A CCTV network will also be installed at the terminal as part of the upgrade.
The terminal currently has 34 standard and two accessible car park spaces dedicated to ferry patrons and this number will not change during or after the works.
In the 2018-19 Brisbane City Council budget, $19.3 million was budgeted for the 2018-19 financial year for ferry terminal upgrades followed by $17.1 million in 2019-20 forward estimates, $12.8 million in 2020-21 and $21.6 million in 2021-22.
It is still unclear how much the Guyatt Park upgrade will cost, but work will commence in the 2018-19 financial year.
The $7.5 million upgrade of the New Farm Park ferry terminal is currently under way with the terminal expected to be closed until late 2018.
