Crossing the Richmond River
Initially, the settlements along the Richmond River were serviced by boats. Supplies were brought from Sydney via the ocean to Ballina and then disseminated throughout the region by river boats or horse and buggy. Tracks were rough hewn through the bush, poorly maintained and constantly affected by rain and floods with small hand-winched punts at the river crossings: the first being at Shaws Bay and North Creek in Ballina, and the punt built by William Yabsley at Coraki. Residents relied on these services to get produce to markets, children to school and families to church on Sundays.
Ferries and punts remained the mainstay of river crossings for many decades as wooden bridges tended to be washed away in times of flood. It was not until the turn of the century with the exploding population and the subsequent increase in road traffic that properly engineered bridges were planned and the money was petitioned from the government.
The Pacific Highway
The Pacific Highway from Sydney to Brisbane had 18 river crossings serviced by ferries. The Richmond section was still prone to flooding at the low-lying points near Pimlico and Woodburn. The main road from the south followed the line of the river along the east bank through the townships of Woodburn, Broadwater and Wardell crossing the river via the Burns Point ferry into Ballina. This created a bottleneck at the ferry crossing during holiday season. The last of the many ferries across the coastal rivers was not superseded by a bridge until 1966. This was the Harwood Bridge across the south channel of the Clarence River, the north channel having been bridged in 1931.
The program of replacement continued into the 1960s with Wardell ferry being the second last to be replaced. This also significantly changed the route of the highway and would greatly improve flood immunity. The bridge – with its bascule opening span – and the 11km of approaches were opened to traffic in April 1964. The Burns Point ferry remained in service to serve the communities of South Ballina, Keith Hall and Empire Vale which would otherwise have had their routes to/from Ballina extended by up to 30km.
Wardell ferry and bridge
During early settlement the residents of the Wardell area had to pick up their mail in Ballina and so a petition was put forward in the 1860’s to have their own Post Office – Mr James Kennedy became the first Postmaster in 1870.
Despite the fact that the town was built on both sides of the river, there was no ferry. Flat bottomed punts were principally in use by the people. The school teacher had his own boat for bringing the children across the river. Horses and cattle had to be driven in and then swam the river.
Douglas McDermott in 1876 and John Mclnerny in 1879 were drowned while crossing the river in this manner. Continued agitation from the residents was successful and in 1882 the first ferry to operate at Wardell was a hand-winched ferry that ran only on one cable. The toll of 2d each way for foot passengers and 6d each way for horses.
This ferry was replaced by 1935 with the traffic mostly made up of horse and sulky and the occasional farmer crossing with stock going to market. With the increase of motor vehicles during the 1950’s, the new ferry which was made locally at Barrons Engineering at Ballina at a cost of £14,000, was a six car Oregon Ferry, powered by a diesel motor.
The bridge was opened in 1964 which changed the course of the Pacific Highway which was taken across to run down the west side of the river.
As of 2020, the new M1 Pacific Highway no longer crosses the bridges at Broadwater or Wardell as it by-passes the coastal towns between Tweed Heads and Coffs Harbour.
Burns Point ferry
In 1891, Mr Mudford of Coraki built a hand-geared ferry which was launched in Dec that year. Everyone, except for children going to and from school, was required to pay a toll which included not only foot passengers but also a horse, ass, mule, buggy, sheep, pig, and goods not conveyed in a vehicle. Leases to operate the ferry and collect fees were publicly auctioned and the competition for them was fierce.
Over the years the ferry was upgraded to accommodate cars and trucks as the main road south followed the eastern side of the river. By the 1950s a small single ferry could no longer satisfy the need. Two ferries were put into action, each carrying 12 vehicles. Even then, it was not long before the build up of traffic in holiday time caused long lines of motorists in more than 2km queues waiting to move across the river. Larger twenty four car ferries were introduced but then in 1964 the Wardell bridge diverted the highway to the western side of the river and the Burns Point ferry reverted to servicing local traffic.
Foster ferry, Shaws Bay
Courtesy of Trove Richmond River Herald 21 April 1911
Perhaps one of the most lucrative and favourite little ventures at Ballina is the motor-boat service instituted—I believe initiated—by Mr. W. Foster. Ballina is the Richmond River’s principal watering place, and it is for the pleasure seekers and piscatorial artists that Mr. Foster especially caters. Courteous and amiable at all times, for a modest “tanner” return trip he will motor you across to the South beach, or dump you on any particular sand bank or stone wall where you can ply your line to further orders.
Missingham Bridge, Ballina
Missingham Bridge was built over North Creek in 1906 to replace the ferry from East Ballina to Ballina Island.
The 2nd bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1970 when it was found that the deterioration in the wooden pylons was dangerous. The 3rd bridge was opened in 1986.
Teven punt and bridge
As the land further north west from Ballina was being settled, Teven and Tintenbar in particular, more creeks had to be crossed. Two that were most significant of these were Maguires Creek and Emigrant Creek at the confluence of which a ferry was put in place.
Twin bridges were built in 1908 but as traffic increased, the single lane roads became dangerous for modern cars and the 100 year old bridges were replaced with concrete ones.
Coraki Ferry
When the village plan for Coraki was drawn up in 1866, the need for a ferry to safely cross the river was identified. After Reverend Thom drowned while attempting to swim his horse across the river in 1869, new impetus was given to petitions for a government funded ferry service.
William Yabsley Jnr noted in his diary that such a service was operating in the 1870s and that he built and launched a ferry in 1879. A cable was run at the river junction but the very early ferries had no gates or side rails. The ferry approaches were rather steep and very slippery in wet weather.
By the 1880’s both Yabsley and Yeager had established successful shipping enterprises and Coraki was a busy inland port. There was a huge increase in the use of the ferry as by the 1890’s the leases were publicly auctioned and the competition for them was fierce.
During 1895 several meetings were held to petition for a bridge over the south arm. Another suggestion was for a ferry crossing further downstream near Oakland. Eventually to help quell this discontent it was agreed to run another cable across the North Arm to join up with the one from the South Arm creating a three-way ferry. This didn’t improve the service as there were longer waiting periods for the ferry and the propellers of boats going to Lismore sometimes became entangled in the ferry cables causing delays.
In 1898, the local council took over the running of the junction ferry and the Government agreed to establish a second service to East Coraki. Meanwhile, plans were afoot for the Glebe Bridge and the first piles were driven in 1904. When it opened in 1905, the South Arm ferry ceased running.
The hand ferry punt at East Coraki became a steam-driven ferry in 1910, firstly powered by coal, then wood, then diesel. It ran until 1990 when it was replaced by the bridge.
Courtesy of Trove Richmond River Herald 16 November 1926
Coraki’s New Steam Ferry.
NEARLY CAPSIZES ON BAR.
The Coombar, with Coraki’s fine new steam ferry in tow, reached here on Saturday morning, after a trip of 56 hours up the coast. All went well till crossing the bar, when a heavy sea caught the ferry, and almost capsized her. For some seconds she poised on beam end, and all aboard thought she had gone. But slowly she righted herself, and thereafter there was no further cause for worry. Had the ferry tipped up on the side carrying the heavy engine room equipment nothing could have saved her, was the opinion of more than one officer. … The new ferry is a vast improvement on the existing ferry, being larger in every way, except that her carriage way is not so wide. … Splendid passenger accommodation is provided, including a comfortable and well-lighted cabin. The steel hull is decked with hardwood, with asphalted carriage-way. … The engine, by the way, can operate the wire ropes on each side, or on the driving side only. … The approaches have been specially prepared to suit the new ferry.
To coincide with the opening of the East Coraki bridge and the last ferry ride in 1990, the full history of the Coraki ferry was compiled by Marie Newman including interviews with many townsfolk about their memories and adventurous stories riding the old ferry.
When the disastrous water hyacinth hit the river in the 1910s, long delays were experienced as the cables had to be cleared before the ferry could safely cross.
Australasia and Magnet in the background.
Glebe Bridge
Alderman John McKinnon was elected Mayor in January 1900 and soon raised again the issue of the need for a bridge on the south arm of the Richmond River. Depth soundings had been taken in the area and the borings revealed that there was solid rock on the spot so they would have good foundations.
The design of the bridge was a virtual clone of one further south on the Clarence River at Maclean called the McFarlane Bridge with Mountney and Company winning the tender for £11,732 for both of the structures with the condition that the work be completed within seven months.
It was be a curved bascule bridge with steel truss girder opening spans, steel tower spans and timber beam approaches, the main spans supported on concrete filled cast iron cylindrical piers. The engineering was recognised as groundbreaking, using two counterweights that rolled down a curved track to open the lift span.
The bridge was claimed to be the most elaborate structure on the Richmond but it was also the cause of a lot of discontent. The dog-leg approach roads were criticised along with the chosen site – some saying that if it had been built on the site of the South Arm ferry, it would have been “an ornament to the town”. It was opened in 1905 and became known as the Glebe Bridge.
Lismore Bridges
In 1879 Lismore was incorporated as a municipality with James Stocks, a chemist, elected as first Mayor and William James Harman appointed as Town Clerk. Council set about developing the basic infrastructure needed to support its growing population, including drainage and the provision of kerosene lamps on street posts. In 1880 the government wharf was built just south of Leycester Creek on the southern bank of the Wilsons River.
Much fanfare accompanied the second opening of Fawcetts Bridge in 1884. A disappointing turnout for the first opening led Council to hold a second opening and the declaration of a public holiday to fully commemorate the event. That year also saw the opening of the Winsome Hotel just north of the bridge. The following year, the bridge over Leycester Creek, Colemans Bridge, was completed and finally north, south and east Lismore were connected. The government-run punt, which previously supplied a somewhat irregular service, was discontinued.
Other Ferries
Bridges
