1. History

2. Operation

3. See also

4. References

5. Further reading

History

The construction of Spencer Street bridge over the Yarra River in 1929 reduced the capacity of the river wharves, and led to expansion downstream of port facilities initially with Appleton Dock. Swanson Dock was constructed in 1968 on the former Coode Island as Melbourne's first all-container shipping terminal, reflecting the rapid world-wide change at the beginning of the 1960s, from unit cargo where each product was loaded in different forms of packaging, to shipping cargo in uniform sized containers.^[3]

Swanson Dock was officially opened on 7 March 1969, by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Rohan Delacombe, during the 6th biennial conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, which was hosted by the Melbourne Harbor Trust in Melbourne. The first international ship to dock (at No 1 West Berth) was the Encounter Bay.^[4]

Operation

Swanson Dock East has a berth length of {{convert|884|m}} serviced by six container cranes with {{convert|40|ha}} of container storage and roadways and rail siding. Swanson Dock West has {{convert|944|m}} of wharves with seven container cranes and {{convert|34|ha}} of space, with the potential to expand as trade grows. Swanson Dock East and West can accommodate the largest container ships trading with Australia.^[5] Railway goods sidings serve both Swanson Dock East and West, permitting the transfer of shipping containers between sea and rail transport. Originally provided in the 1960s with the development of the port, they were later removed.^[6] Rail facilities were restored between 2002 and 2003 with a new 1500 metre long siding and overpasses to separate road traffic.^[7][8]

Swanson Dock was one site of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute when dockworkers were locked out by Patrick Stevedores, and replaced with non-union labour. The Maritime Union of Australia workers picketing East Swanson dock invited Wendy Lowenstein to record them "making history" which was incorporated into a second edition of her book Under the Hook.

See also

• Port of Melbourne
• History of Melbourne Docklands

References

Further reading

• Kim Dovey: Fluid City: Transforming Melbourne's Urban Waterfront, London: Routledge, 2005

• The Ehrhardt-Szawe
• The 'Eh Team
• Thee Hypnotics
• The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies
• The Eiger
• The Eight Articles of London
• The Eight Cold Hells
• The Eight Colored Clans of Saiunkoku
• The Eight Dog Chronicles
• The Eighteen-Carat Kid
• The Eighteenth Brumaire Of Louis Buonaparte
• The Eighteenth Century
• The Eighteenth Century (magazine)
• The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation
• The Eighteenth Emergency EP
• The Eight Great Eminent Officials
• The Eighth
• The Eighth Day (bioethics book)
• The eighth day (Christian)
• The Eighth Day (disambiguation)
• The Eight of Swords
• The Eight (painters)
• The Eight Plague
• The Eight Truths
• The Eight Witnesses