Misplaced Pages

#768231

63-561: Canada Bay is an estuarine bay on the Parramatta River , in the inner-west of Sydney , in the state of New South Wales , Australia . It is the innermost inlet of the larger Hen and Chicken Bay . Two other bays to the north of Canada Bay are two other bays named for Canadian internment camps for convicts involved in the Lower Canada Rebellion : The shoreline of Canada Bay is largely open parkland, with some residential use to

126-505: A Centenary Stonework Program to ensure its availability. The program was also a catalyst for private projects as well as conservation and maintenance research. Even though the government rescued large blocks and stockpiled it, shortages continue because developers excavate large building sites and break the material up into unusable pieces. According to the manager for the State Government's Centenary Stonework Program, Ron Powell, "There

189-621: A form of Silicosis or industrial dust disease. In 1908 questions were asked in the Legislative Assembly in the parliament of New South Wales about how likely the men cutting sandstone in Sydney were to contracting the disease and whether the Government should grant medical aid to them. The early administrators of the colony at Sydney Cove sent groups of prisoners to an area nearby, named The Rocks , to eke out what ever existence they could from

252-668: A line between Yurulbin in Birchgrove and Manns Point in Greenwich . Here it flows into Port Jackson, about 21 kilometres (13 mi) from the Tasman Sea . The total catchment area of the river is approximately 252.4 square kilometres (97.5 sq mi) and is tidal to Charles Street Weir in Parramatta, approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Sydney Heads . The land adjacent to

315-576: A long historical association with rowing. There is a monument in honour of Henry Searle, a champion sculler of his day, in the river at Henley. Some of the school rowing sheds are: There are also a number of rowing clubs: While a number of regattas are still held on the river each year, mainly in Iron Cove and Hen and Chicken Bay , many of the major regattas are now held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC), adjacent to

378-490: A number of papers which show that Sydney Harbour is as contaminated as most other harbours in industrialised cities, that the main sediment contamination is in the southern central embayments (Blackwattle to Homebush Bays), that there are five particularly contaminated areas of Sydney Harbour, and that four of them are in the Parramatta river system. The main contaminated areas of the Parramatta River are: Water quality

441-481: A small amount of the iron mineral siderite in varying proportions, bound with a clay matrix. It oxidises to the warm yellow-brown colour that is notable in the buildings which are constructed of it. The sand was washed from Broken Hill , and laid down in a bed that is about 200 metres thick. Currents washed through it, leaching out most of the minerals and leaving a very poor rock that made an insipid soil . They washed out channels in some places, while in others,

504-539: A variety of sandstone. Iron and aluminium oxides are found within laterite , which was formed by the weathering of Hawkesbury sandstone. Crushing strengths and fire resistance tests carried out on Sydney sandstone showed that the compressive strength was 2.57 tons per square inch, or 39.9 megapascals (MPa). The crushing strength for ashlar masonry and lintels averaged 4,600 pounds per square inch (31.7 MPa). Recent tests have recorded compressive strengths of up to 70 MPa. In fire resistance tests, designed to assess

567-462: Is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock for much of the region of Sydney , Australia. Well known for its durable quality, it is the reason many Aboriginal rock carvings and drawings in the area still exist. As a highly favoured building material , especially preferred during

630-526: Is aesthetic, preventing the water from draining away during dry periods. As a consequence the river floods in heavy rain, particularly at the Charles Street Weir. The Charles Street Weir forms the boundary between fresh water and salt water, and is also the limit of tides. The whole of Sydney Harbour including its tributary rivers is subject to a long range Catchment Management Plan. The Government has almost eliminated local representation by eliminating

693-461: Is monitored by the Office of Environment and Heritage (New South Wales) (OEH) for faecal coliforms and e. coli , but only as far west as Cabarita . OEH does not monitor water quality further west on the river, despite increasing development and the use of the river for recreational boating. In the areas monitored, the water quality is generally acceptable except after heavy rains. The Parramatta River

SECTION 10

#1732859565769

756-583: Is no foreshore access, cycleways are routed through quiet residential streets with clearly marked sections of the road reserved for cyclists. Major foreshore parks include: Major heritage buildings, all listed on the Register of the National Estate , on or near the foreshore include: Sydney sandstone Sydney sandstone , also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone , yellowblock , and yellow gold ,

819-460: Is nothing stopping developers at all from just trashing it". In 2008, a Sydney city councillor said that planning laws stand, City of Sydney Council can allow the yellowblock to be "harvested" but cannot mandate that developers excavate the stone in a way that preserves it. Conservation and a revival in use has caused some clashes between principles and practice. In spite of the shortages, the revived industry continues to quarry, process, and supply

882-619: Is one of the few significant coastal rivers in New South Wales which has not been the subject of an investigation by the Healthy Rivers Commission. The Cooks River and Botany Bay have been subject to such an investigation. Some have campaigned for a Healthy Rivers Commission inquiry to bring together all the information on the state of the river and its sediments and fish and assist in watershed management . Major wetlands include: There are significant stands of mangroves along

945-579: Is subject to a number of fishing bans because of its contaminated sediments. There is a complete fishing ban in Homebush Bay because of the dioxin contamination. In 2006 the NSW Government imposed a complete commercial fishing ban throughout the rest of Sydney Harbour and its tributaries, including the Parramatta River west of the Harbour Bridge, which remained in place until 2011. The Parramatta River

1008-422: Is very detrimental to native flora and fauna. It destroys habitat, alters landform, drainage and soil conditions, creates waste pollution, and usually generates noise and dust ... Existing features ... can be removed or obliterated, and local waterways affected by sedimentation. More widely, the extraction and processing of sandstone requires considerable energy, with its related environmental impacts." The impact on

1071-571: The Illawarra escarpment . Sandstone escarpments box in the Sydney area on three sides: to the west the Blue Mountains , and to the north and south, the Hornsby Plateau and Woronora Plateau . These escarpments kept Sydney in its bounds and some people still regard the spatial boundaries of the city in these terms. Six kilometres of sandstone and shale lie under Sydney. In Sydney sandstone,

1134-459: The Lane Cove River and Iron Cove which have less traffic. Much of the foreshore is still in the hands of industry and private individuals as residences, however there is an increasing amount of waterfront land available as foreshore reserve with walkways and cycleways. As former industrial sites undergo remediation and redevelopment, the foreshores are opened up for public access. Where there

1197-590: The Nepean River , where rowing was held for the 2000 Summer Olympics . Early GPS Schoolboy Head of the River races were held on the Parramatta River before moving to the Nepean River and later SIRC. Most rowing training is done in the middle to upper reaches of the river between Abbotsford and Homebush Bay because there is less water traffic and therefore less waves and more protection from wind. Rowing also takes place in

1260-481: The Harbour and river seabed. Many bays contain swing moorings, mostly privately owned, but some associated with commercial marinas. Along the Parramatta River many hands have made lighter work, in the community-wide effort to make the entire river swimmable again by 2025 , starting with the opening of Lake Parramatta in 2014. Thirteen councils sit within the Parramatta River catchment group and all have committed to tackling

1323-462: The Parramatta River are formed by the confluence of Darling Mills Creek and Toongabbie Creek . The point of the confluence lies on the northern border of the grounds of Cumberland Hospital . It also lies on the boundary of the suburbs of Westmead , Northmead , and North Parramatta . Waterways flowing into the Parramatta River, west–to–east include: From its start at the confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek at North Parramatta,

SECTION 20

#1732859565769

1386-576: The Parramatta River was occupied for many thousands of years by Aboriginal peoples of the Wallumettagal nations and the Wangal , Toongagal (or Tugagal), Burramattagal, and Wategora clans of the Darug people. They used the river as an important source of food and a place for trade. The river was formed 15 to 29 million years ago as its waters began to cut a valley into sandstone and shale . The headwaters of

1449-473: The Pyrmont peninsula has been described as an example of "systematic destruction of ecology in favour of economy ... The peninsula may be an extreme example of what happens when 'progress', 'development', 'economic growth' take the box seats of society." Towards the end of the 20th century, it was realised that more stone would be needed for future conservation work. The New South Wales State Government established

1512-439: The bay, with better housing and pubs for entertainment. Millions of cubic feet of sandstone was excavated from Sydney's Cockatoo Island to create a dry dock on the island. In the early days settlers found at hand a convenient substitute for stone in the hardwoods, and in Sydney sandstone was so plentiful and so easily worked that no one thought of going afield to explore for something better, and even today [1915] freestone, as

1575-453: The building: 'It has a fine facade in warm-coloured stone ... forming a richly modelled surface'. Demolition of sandstone buildings in The Rocks was forestalled in part because of a Green Ban . A revival began when the heritage value of these older buildings was recognised. Contemporary reports have noted the contribution of sandstone quarrying to ecological degradation. "Sandstone quarrying

1638-522: The bush its distinctive smell. Other types of sandstone found in Sydney include sandstones in the Mittagong formation , Newport Formation Sandstone , Bulgo Sandstone , Minchinbury Sandstone , and other sandstones which occur within other layers of sedimentary rocks; such as sandstones within Ashfield Shale , Bringelly Shale and Garie Formation . Bald Hill Claystone is considered by geologists to be

1701-480: The city some of its "personality" by dint of its meteorological , horticultural , aesthetic and historical impact. One author describes Sydney's sandstone as "a kind of base note, an ever-present reminder of its Georgian beginnings and more ancient past." Sydney sandstone was deposited in the Triassic Period probably in a freshwater delta and is the caprock which controls the erosion and scarp retreat of

1764-400: The city's early years—from the late 1790s to the 1890s—its use, particularly in public buildings , gives the city its distinctive appearance. The sandstone is notable for its geological characteristics; its relationship to Sydney's vegetation and topography ; the history of the quarries that worked it; and the quality of the buildings and sculptures constructed from it. This bedrock gives

1827-646: The colony in 1788, settlers and convicts had to work with the stone, using it for building and trying to grow crops on the soil over it. The sandstone had a negative effect on farming because it underlay most of the available flat land at a very shallow depth. In the late 19th century, it was thought that the sandstone might contain gold . Some efforts were made at the University of Sydney to test this idea. Reporting on them in 1892, Professor Liversidge said "The Hawkesbury sandstone and Waianamatta shale was, of course, derived from older and probably gold-bearing rocks hence it

1890-464: The currents formed sand banks that show a characteristic current bedding or cross-bedding that can often be seen in cuttings. At a time in the past, monocline formed to the west of Sydney. The monocline is a sloping bend that raises the sandstone well above where it is expected to be seen, and this is why the whole of the visible top of the Blue Mountains is made of sandstone. From the beginnings of

1953-580: The edge of the hospital grounds, the Kiosk Weir in Parramatta Park, the Marsden Street Weir, and the Charles Street Weir at the ferry wharf. The weirs have been equipped with fish ladders . Kiosk Weir and Charles Street Weir also include footbridges enabling a crossing of the river. Historically, the river was dammed to provide reservoirs for the town. Currently, however, the function of the weirs

Canada Bay - Misplaced Pages Continue

2016-453: The end of the 19th century and cutting the stone became more difficult than before as depths increased. The combination of slowing demand and technical difficulties forced quarries out of business, although restorations and extensions of important public buildings still required Sydney sandstone. After the Saunders quarries closed, Pyrmont yellowblock sandstone was no longer available. The stone

2079-561: The fish eating the benthos . Some of these companies claim that the contamination is best left alone, but environmentalists have argued that the contamination could be being passed up the food chain and claim that the companies are trying to avoid the costs incurred in pollution cleanup. There are a number of sailing and yachting clubs on the River: Sailing and rowing take place under an aquatic licence granted annually by Roads and Maritime Services. There are Sea Scouts at: The river has

2142-535: The form of sculptures and finely carved details. The sculptor William Priestly MacIntosh , for example, carved ten of the explorers statues for the niches in the Lands Department building in "Pyrmont Freestone ". Saunders's quarries, known locally as Paradise , Purgatory . and Hellhole , were so named by the Scottish quarrymen who worked there in the 1850s. The names related to the degree of difficulty in working

2205-414: The former local catchment management boards. The New South Wales Government has a documented policy in relation to access to the harbour and river foreshores, including public access to intertidal lands where landowners have absolute waterfronts but where the waterfront is exposed at low tide. Moorings and jetties are the responsibility of Transport for NSW , who are also responsible for the management of

2268-405: The headland at the northern end of the bay, has a plaque that honours the exiles and marks the point of disembarkation. This article related to the geography of Sydney is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Parramatta River Formed by the confluence of Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek at North Parramatta , the river flows in an easterly direction to

2331-526: The land and build housing for themselves. These first occupants hewed out sandstone from the outcrops and built simple houses. Convicts were also employed tunnelling through what is called the 'Argyle Cut' in The Rocks. The rock was dumped in the mangrove swamps at the head of the Tank Stream to begin to make Circular Quay . Later development in The Rocks area led to bond stores and warehouses being built on

2394-540: The lead contaminated sediments near the former Berger Paints plant. The former AGL site has been analysed, a remediation plan developed and approved, remediation completed and construction commenced on medium to high density residential development, but the sediments, which independent research shows to be contaminated with pollutants from the AGL operations, have not yet had the investigation stage finalised (as of 2000 ). Other areas have had sediments covered with concrete to prevent

2457-532: The main buildings of the University of Sydney, the stone was supplied from the Pyrmont quarries where there were at least 22 quarrymen working by 1858. Among them was Charles Saunders, licensee of the hotel 'The Quarryman's Arms' who became Pyrmont's biggest quarrymaster. Pyrmont yellowblock not only had good hardness, texture, and colour, it was also suitable for carving and so it could be incorporated into buildings in

2520-483: The material's connection with Sydney's geology as well as its flora and fauna. For example, the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney commissioned sculptor Chris Booth to design a living sculpture (entitled Wurrungwuri) for its grounds, officially unveiled 9 March 2011. One of the two main pieces of the sculpture is a 'sandstone wave', consisting of about 200 tonnes of sandstone blocks in an undulating form reminiscent of

2583-527: The north and east. The City West Link Road , a major arterial road, runs along the southern shore of the bay. A suburb on the shore of the bay is named after it , as is the City of Canada Bay , the local government area encompassing a large portion of inner-western Sydney. The name Canada Bay honours a link between Australia and Canada . Following the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 to 1838, two Irish and 58 French Canadian rebels were deported to Australia. At

Canada Bay - Misplaced Pages Continue

2646-624: The rebellions, the Australian Governor General and High Commissioner to Canada recommended that Britain grant responsible self-government to the Union of Upper and Lower Canada . In the 1850s, the Australian colonies achieved responsible government and parliamentary democracy . Many parts of Canada Bay are a reminder of this history: Exile Bay, France Bay, Durham Street, Marceau Drive, Polding Street and Gipps Street. Bayview Park, occupying

2709-615: The request of the local Catholic bishop , they were brought to Sydney. Imprisoned at Longbottom Stockade (which was located at what is now Concord Oval ), the convicts broke stone for the construction of Parramatta Road and collected oyster shells for making lime . In 1842, the French Canadians were allowed to work outside the prison. Between 1843 and 1844, all received pardons and, except for two people who died and one (Joseph Marceau) who settled in Dapto all returned to Canada . After

2772-491: The resistance to collapse of a building in a fire, the sandstone came through better than some of the very hard stones, especially the granites . (The stone was subjected to temperatures approaching 800 degrees Celsius, for 15–30 minutes and plunged into cold water.) The quality of the sandstone known to Sydneysiders as yellow block became well known early. Called on by the Colonial Architect, for example, to be used in

2835-415: The ripple marks from the ancient river that brought the grains of sand are distinctive and easily seen, telling geologists that the sand comes from rocks formed between 500 and 700 million years ago far to the south. This means that the highest part of the visible lines almost always faces approximately south. It is a very porous stone and acts as a giant filter. It is composed of very pure silica grains and

2898-465: The river flows in a southerly direction through the grounds of Cumberland Hospital . Entering Parramatta Park , it then turns east and flows through the Parramatta CBD. Both banks are largely open to the public, with parkland and walkways, downstream to James Ruse Drive . The river is fed by a number of small creeks and stormwater drains. The waters are controlled by a series of weirs : the weir at

2961-685: The river west of Henley (on the river's northern shore) and Mortlake (on the river's southern shore) and in the Lane Cove River. The mangroves have actually colonised areas that were previously salt marsh. Research into historical drawings and writings indicates that the mangroves were far fewer at English colonisation. Council information panels in Glades Bay explain that the bay's now extensive mangrove stands would once have been open water, sandy beaches and outcrops of rock. Land clearing and development has allowed soil and various nutrients to be washed into

3024-401: The river, particularly in Homebush Bay. Most creeks leading into the bays have been channelised (lined with concrete walls and floor). While some areas of the river with heavily contaminated sediments have not been remediated , there is significant remediation of sediments about to start in Homebush Bay. These include the dioxin contaminated sediments near the former Union Carbide plant and

3087-421: The river. This has provided an ideal environment for mangroves to colonise. The excessive siltation of the river is an ongoing problem. Many areas of the river, particularly the swampy heads of bays, have been reclaimed , often being used as rubbish dumps before being converted into playing fields. Large sections of Meadowbank Park were created in this manner. Some industrial sites were also reclaimed heavily from

3150-427: The sandstone is often called, is nearly everywhere employed by architects and builders. Demand for Pyrmont stone surged in the years following the gold rush when prosperity meant that many public and private buildings were constructed. From the 1870s, various building sites had up to 300 masons working and carving the stone. Historians have reported that during this period, there were more masons working in Sydney than

3213-482: The stone and its quality. The best stone was 'Paradise', a soft rock that is easy to carve and weathers to a warm, golden straw colour. The Paradise quarry was near present-day Quarry Master and Saunders Streets, Purgatory quarry was near present-day Pyrmont Bridge Road, and Hellhole was where Jones Street now is, near Fig Street. Before World War I, quarries opened up in other Sydney suburbs, such as Botany , Randwick , Paddington and Waverley . The men who worked

SECTION 50

#1732859565769

3276-808: The stone for building, landscaping, commercial, and conservation work in Australia and there are public courses available in Stonemasonry . It is now also used as a contemporary building material in major constructions and restorations such as Governor Phillip Tower and the Commemorative Museum, winning international architectural awards for excellence. Architects, such as the Robin Boyd Award winner Graham Jahn , describe Sydney's sandstone buildings as "wonderful". A small, highly skilled team of stonemasons responsible for maintaining Sydney's sandstone buildings

3339-434: The stone were highly skilled and organised. Their trade union was the first in the world to win the eight-hour working day in 1855. The daily wages for quarrymen and masons in 1868 has been cited as ten shillings , while labourers earned seven to eight shillings per day at that time. Stonecutters were subject to a range of lung diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and a disease known as "stonemasons' phthisis", now known as

3402-437: The two major polluters: sewer overflows and stormwater . There are River Cat services along the Parramatta River to Circular Quay . The main wharves, west–to–east are: The Parramatta River, along with Sydney Harbour, is the most significant waterway in Sydney. Since settlement, the river and the harbour have presented a formidable barrier between the early–European settled southern Farm Cove precinct, to development north of

3465-459: The waterway. Together, Parramatta River and Port Jackson literally cut Sydney in half along its north–south axis. As a result, the many crossings are extremely important to the life of the city. From west–to–east, the crossings of the Parramatta River are located at: With adjacent water pipe bridge on the Carlingford railway line [REDACTED] (Putney Punt) Until 1970 the river

3528-418: The whole of Europe. It was estimated that by 1928 total production of dressed sandstone from Pyrmont was more than half a million cubic yards (about 460,000 cubic metres) and much was carted away to build other places. The main public buildings in Sydney, completed from the 1850s until the 20th century were built in sandstone from Pyrmont where some 50 quarries operated. In 1909, for example, when an enquiry

3591-514: Was "the rock foundation of most suburban gardens". Sandstone buildings were considered old-fashioned and many were demolished. Some gained a reprieve after much debate. The Queen Victoria Building , for example, a grand and ornate building occupying an entire Sydney block and faced with Pyrmont stone, was threatened with demolition and replacement by a car park. A great debate among supporters and opponents of demolition followed. One architect, Elias Duek-Cohen, referred to its material in his defence of

3654-512: Was an open drain for Sydney's industry and consequently the southern central embayments are contaminated with a range of heavy metals and chemicals. The Northern Bays are less affected as the Sydney Harbour Bridge was not completed until 1932 and so industrial development was already well established on the southern side of the Harbour. Gavin Birch of the University of Sydney has published

3717-400: Was done on the sandstone of the clock tower of Sydney Town Hall as part of a four-year, $ 32 million project to restore the building. The capitals on top of the tower columns needed replacement because they had been badly affected by weather and pollution. The work required about 26 cubic metres of yellow block sandstone. Sculptural uses of Sydney sandstone make aesthetic and symbolic use of

3780-409: Was established early in the 1990s. In 2015 a NSW government proposal to outsource the tasks they carried out threatened the loss of their skills, but this did not go ahead. Sydney's significant sandstone buildings, such as Sydney Hospital , have required the attention of these expert stonemasons, as most of Sydney's sandstone buildings date from the 19th century. For example, in 2012, conservation work

3843-486: Was not unreasonable to expect to find gold in them." The sandstone is the basis of the nutrient-poor soils found in Sydney that developed over millennia and 'came to nurture a brilliant and immensely diverse array of plants'. It is, for example, the "heartland of those most characteristic of Australian trees, the eucalypts ". As plants cannot afford to lose leaves to herbivores when nutrients are scarce so they defend their foliage with toxins. In eucalypts, these toxins give

SECTION 60

#1732859565769

3906-567: Was still appreciated in the 20th century. In 1938, for example, appreciation of the stone prompted criticism of proposals to use brick in Sydney especially in ecclesiastical architecture . "It Is doubtful if any country in the world has a building stone more perfectly suited for church building than our Sydney sandstone, even for the most delicate and intricate tracery." By the middle of the 20th century, when new modern building materials, such as steel and structural reinforced concrete, had begun to be used, sandstone use had changed. By 1953, sandstone

3969-837: Was undertaken about remodelling the Parliamentary Buildings in Macquarie Street it was reported that "the external work, excepting the southern flank, was to be carried out in Sydney sandstone and the main flight of steps in stone obtained from the Purgatory quarry". Many of Sydney's early sandstone buildings remain but many have been demolished. Demolished buildings include: Vickery's Warehouse, Pitt Street; Robert C. Swan & Co warehouse, Pitt Street, Mason Bros stores, Spring Street; Harrison Jones & Devlin warehouse, Macquarie Place; Mutual Life building, George Street; The Union Club, Bligh Street. Quarries were being worked out by

#768231