The City of Launceston has engaged a contractor, Sub41, to carry out repair works on the Sea Scouts pontoon and refurbishment and repair works on the Home Point pontoon.
Preliminary works were carried out on the Sea Scouts pontoon in early July. Since then, Sub41 have been working off-site on the upgrade of the Sea Scouts pontoon and are scheduled to return to Home Point early September 2024 to complete the works on the Sea Scout pontoon before moving on to the Home Point pontoon.
All work is currently anticipated to be completed by late October 2024.
Sea Scout Pontoon
The pontoon sits on the southern banks of the North Esk River and is utilised by the TS Tamar Australian Navy Cadets and the 1st Tamar Sea Scouts.
The original boardwalk stretching from the Seaport to Park Street was upgraded in 2017 and the timber
surfaces were replaced with non-slip fibreglass grid mesh. At the same time, the Sea Scout Pontoon was
upgraded. Unfortunately, during the October 2022 flood, the pontoon sustained severe damage that resulted in it rotating out of its position and the pontoon ‘finger’ detaching.
This finger has since been repaired by Sub41 off-site and will be returned to site and reattached to the
pontoon. The project also aims to increase the pontoon’s resistance to flood damage by installing 2 additional anchors and associated chains.
Home Point Pontoon
This pontoon provides mooring points for the Tamar River Cruises which began operation from this location in 1996.
Upgrades to this pontoon includes replacement of timber decking, service bollards and anchor chains.
During this upgrade and refurbishment works, Tamar River Cruises will operate their two vessels from the Sea Scout pontoon.
Access along the boardwalk
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the boardwalk will remain open to the public for the duration of the works. The Contractor will be utilising barges to carry out the works to each pontoon. Barges will be moored in the river and closely located to the Sea Scout pontoon site. The portion of the Sea Scout Pontoon that has been repaired offsite will be launched from Kings Wharf and ferried across the river. All other materials will be loaded onto Vessels at Kings Wharf and stored on the barges. There is no scheduled disruption to the any roadway or pedestrian pathway.
City of Launceston – Contact details
Customer Service Centre – Town Hall
18-28 St John Street Launceston
Monday to Friday 8.30am – 5.00pm
Phone: 03 6323 3000
Email: contactus@launceston.tas.gov.au