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Dredged sand to expand Broadwater Parklands at two locations

Southport Broadwater Parklands is about to grow by more than four hectares.

The parklands will be widened in two separate locations in a reclamation program that will provide an additional new events space for the city and a unique mangrove habitat which will be a reminder of a bygone era.

Both areas are being created as part of the overall master plan for the parklands which was launched by Premier Anna Bligh in 2007.

Recycled sand from the dredging of two navigation channels in the Broadwater will be used to form the two new areas.

Dredging is expected to begin in early March and take nearly four months to pump approximately 100,000 cubic metres of sand from the Southern Channel, near the Seaway entrance, and South Wave Break Channel.

Mayor Ron Clarke said the reclaimed areas would add greatly to the attraction of the parklands and would complement the $36 million Stage One Broadwater Parklands project that was now rapidly taking shape.

He said Council was providing $1.2 million towards the dredging operation, with the balance of $300,000 coming from Queensland Transport.

“The amount of dredged sand to be deposited at the reclamation sites will be equivalent to filling the Titans’ football ground at Robina to a depth of more than 15 metres.

‘Following the reclamation process, we expect to spend several million dollars in landscaping the two new areas,” said Cr Clarke.

The first area - which will be near the existing southern children’s playground and swimming enclosure - will be planted with dune vegetation, lawn and shade-providing Casuarina trees, and will allow open access to the beach area.

Its large open lawn area will also give the Gold Coast an additional high quality space in which major events can take place.

The second area - north of the existing boat ramp - will be an environmental offsets zone that will have a section of existing seagrass transplanted from the first area. It will also include a 1.2 hectare fish and mangrove habitat, and visitor interpretation pathway.

A wetland that is presently being constructed in the central section of the Stage One parklands redevelopment, will treat 3.2 hectares of previously untreated urban runoff to assist general seagrass growth in the Broadwater.

Additionally, Griffith University will be assisting Council with fisheries research projects in the Broadwater.

Local area Councillor, Dawn Crichlow, said mangroves were once found in sections of the Nerang River and Broadwater estuarine areas but were gradually lost to urbanisation.

“It will be great for the community to have both of these new features. They can either explore them, or simply relax in beautiful surroundings.

“The addition of the reclaimed areas will enhance the Broadwater Parklands as a community asset,” said Cr Crichlow.

The dredging and reclamation works have been approved in accordance with the provisions of relevant State Government legislation. None of the work will be carried out in protected fish or bird habitats.

Inca Rope bridge

Inca Rope bridges were simple suspension bridges over canyons and gorges to present access for the Inca Empire. Bridges of this type were suitable for use since the Inca people did not use wheeled transport - traffic was incomplete to pedestrians and livestock. These bridges were an intrinsic part on the Inca road scheme and are an excellent example of Inca innovation in engineering. They were frequently used by Chasqui runners delivering messages throughout the Inca Empire.

The construction of these bridges amounted to a pair of stone anchors on each side of the canyon with immense cables of woven ichu grass linking these two pylons together. Adding to this construction, two additional cables acted as guardrails. The cables which supported the foot-path were unbreakable with plaited branches. This multi-structure system made these bridges strong enough to even carry the Spaniards while riding horses after they indoors. However, these massive bridges were so heavy that they tended to sag in the middle, and this caused them to bend in high winds.

Music

Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. Elements of sound as used in music are pitch, rhythm and sonic qualities of timbre, articulation, dynamics, and texture.

The creation, performance, significance and even the definition of music, varies according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions and performances to improvisational or aleatoric forms. For purposes of discussion and exploration of the topic, music is divided into genres and sub-genres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often unclear and/or controversial. Within "the arts", music can be classified as a performing art, a fine art, or an auditory art form.

Music may also involve generative forms in time through the construction of patterns and combinations of natural stimuli, principally sound. Music may be used for artistic or aesthetic, communicative, entertainment, ceremonial or religious purposes and by many composers purely as an academic instrument for study.

Nature

The word nature is consequent from the Latin word natura, or the course of things, natural character. Natural was a Latin translation of the Greek word physis, which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord. This is shown in the first written use of the word, in connection with a plant. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage was confirmed during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.

Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" may refer to the general realm of various types of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects - the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth, and the matter and energy of which all these things are composed. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wilderness - wild animals, rocks, forest, beaches, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the latter being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human or human-like consciousness or mind.

Market

A market is a social arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to discover in sequence and carry out a voluntary replace of goods or services. It is one of the two key institutions that organize trade, along with the right to own goods. In everyday usage, the word market may refer to the place where goods are traded, sometimes known as a marketplace, or to a street market.
In economics a financial market is a device that allows people to easily buy and sell financial securities, commodities, and other fungible substance of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect capable markets.
A stock market is a market for the trading of company stock, and derivatives of same; both of these are securities scheduled on a stock replace as well as those only traded privately.