When floods devastated South East Queensland in 2011, who was to blame? Despite the inherent risk of living on a floodplain, most residents had pinned their hopes on Wivenhoe Dam to protect them, and when it failed to do so, dam operators were blamed for the scale of the catastrophic events that followed. A River with a City Problem is a compelling history of floods in the Brisbane River catchment, especially those in 1893, 1974 and 2011. Extensively researched, it highlights the force of nature, the vagaries of politics and the power of community. With many river cities facing urban development challenges, Cook makes a convincing argument for what must change to prevent further tragedy.
Have you ever been on the CityCat and wondered what heritage lies beneath the buildings that you are looking at along the river? This book explores the Brisbane River Heritage Trail one section going upstream and the other one downstream. Let the book be your guide. The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland and flows through the city of Brisbane before emptying in Moreton Bay. From its source around Mt Stanley, 344 kilometres to Moreton Bay, the Brisbane River with its many twists and turns presents the interested travelling public with a series of reaches with names that are at once geographic, historic and of social importance.
The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some "minimum" flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river. In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year. In Rivers for Life, leading water experts Sandra Postel and Brian Richter explain why restoring and preserving more natural river flows are key to sustaining freshwater biodiversity and healthy river systems, and describe innovative policies, scientific approaches, and management reforms for achieving those goals. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter: explain the value of healthy rivers to human and ecosystem health; describe the ecological processes that support river ecosystems and how they have been disrupted by dams, diversions, and other alterations; consider the scientific basis for determining how much water a river needs; examine new management paradigms focused on restoring flow patterns and sustaining ecological health; assess the policy options available for managing rivers and other freshwater systems; explore building blocks for better river governance. Sandra Postel and Brian Richter offer case studies of river management from the United States (the San Pedro, Green, and Missouri), Australia (the Brisbane), and South Africa (the Sabie), along with numerous examples of new and innovative policy approaches that are being implemented in those and other countries. Rivers for Life presents a global perspective on the challenges of managing water for people and nature, with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the relevant science, policy, and management issues. It presents exciting and inspirational information for anyone concerned with water policy, planning and management, river conservation, freshwater biodiversity, or related topics.
A visual feast brought to life by architectural innovators Cox Rayner - featuring hundreds of spectacular full-colour photographs - capturing the sculptural marvel that is Kurilpa Bridge. The Kurilpa Bridge project was an opportunity to not only make a new pedestrian and cycle connection across Brisbane's river, it was an opportunity to form a new public space. The result is a symbol of a city which is forging an identity at the forefront of art, science, and technology. The concept was based upon Buckminster Fuller's principles of tensegrity (tensional integrity). Its priority was to simultaneously resolve unusual physical challenges, such as navigational constraints and motorway spanning, and embrace the spirit of a city which is relaxed, subtropical, and seeking to prioritise walking, cycling, and healthy lifestyle. SELLING POINTS: - Explores and celebrates a bridge made significant by its embodiment of Brisbane's emergence as a contemporary design city, featuring over 150 pages of detailed descriptions and spectacular full-colour photography 28 col., 150 b/w
Brisbane 1999. It's hot. Stormy. Dangerous. The waters of the Brisbane River are rising. The rains won't stop. People's nerves are on edge. And then... A body is found. And then another. And another. A string of seemingly ritualized but gruesome murders. All the victims are men. Affluent. Guys with nice houses, wives and kids at private schools. All have had their throats cut. Tabloid headlines shout, THE VAMPIRE KILLER STRIKES AGAIN! Detective Sergeant Lara Ocean knows the look. The 'my-life-will-never-be-the-same-again look'. She's seen it too many times on too many faces. Telling a wife her husband won't be coming home. Ever again. Telling her the brutal way he was murdered. That's a look you never get used to. Telling a mother you need her daughter to come to the station for questioning. That's another look she doesn't want to see again. And looking into the eyes of a killer, yet doubting you've got it right. That's the worst look of all - the one you see in the mirror. Get it right, you're a hero and the city is a safer place. Get it wrong and you destroy a life. And a killer remains free. Twenty years down the track, Lara Ocean will know the truth.
This book explores river tourism from a range of perspectives including river uses, heritage, management, environmental concerns, and marketing. The book has 15 chapters and an index. The intended readership includes researchers and students of leisure and tourism.
Matilda dreams of seeing new places and things, away from her ordinary life on the farm. But she never expected to see them by being washed away in a flood! Will she ever see the other cows again? Based on a true story of a cow's journey down the Brisbane River, this is a book about finding courage and being brave.
Susanna de Vries, award-winning author, and Jake de Vries, former City Architect of Brisbane, have pooled their talents to compile a joint book on the building of Brisbane, which transports us back to the first years of Brisbane’s bleak existence. The book shows the Convict and Officers Barracks and convicts digging roads along what became Queen Street and North Quay. Professional artist Conrad Martens paints the Customs House and Kangaroo Point. The book recounts the effects of Brisbane’s building boom of the 1880s when everyone borrowed money and major buildings like the Mansions, the old Museum, the second wing of the Post Office and the Treasury are completed. In the depression years of the 1890s some Queensland banks and architects go broke. A visiting Canadian artist named Lefèvre Cranstone draws rural Toowong, the Regatt a Hotel and the Toowong Rowing Club. River Road, [later Coronation Drive], once used for droving cattle from Brookfield, becomes a thoroughfare for the carriages of the wealthy from Indooroopilly and Milton.
