The Macquarie Heads Breakwater was a project of the Strahan Marine Board in

Western Tasmania The West Coast of Tasmania is one of the Regions of Tasmania, regions of Tasmania in Australia. It is mainly isolated rough country and is associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement ...

to sustain a reasonable depth to the Hells Gates and ''Macquarie Heads'' of the

Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by th ...

area to allow for shipping of limited tonnage to serve Regatta Point while the

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

was exporting its mineral products by sea. The heads were notoriously difficult to navigate in good weather, and even more difficult in bad weather. The SS Kaiwatiri was wrecked at Macquarie Heads between 1907 and 1910, and the shoal to the east of the main entrance channel is now known as the Kaiwatiri Shoal.

Breakwater

The breakwater lay on the west side of the entrance. In the 1905 cartographic map of the Heads (also designated 'West Coast Entrance to Macquarie Harbour'), evidence of a proposed or planned 'East Breakwater' is shown, with the existing named as the 'West Breakwater' the name 'West Breakwater' still carried on in later surveys in 1930 and the 1964 map, but with no sign of the planned 'East Breakwater'. The breakwater was regularly in need of maintenance The maps for ''Macquarie Entrance'' as it was also known show the breakwater's position clearly

Horse drawn tram

Between 1900 and 1946 there was a horse drawn wooden rail tramline that was utilised to provide access between locations on the

Cape Sorell Cape Sorell is a headland located in the Southern Ocean outside Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. The cape and the Cape Sorell Lighthouse, located above the headland, are important orientation points for all vessels e ...

headland between the

Cape Sorell Lighthouse The Cape Sorell Lighthouse is a heritage-listed lighthouse that is located on Cape Sorell in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The lighthouse is situated approximately southwest of . Constructed and first lit in 1899, the ligh ...

and the jetty and wharf locations - as well as to move rock from quarries to the construction and maintenance of the Macquarie Heads breakwater. The named locations on the wooden rail system - were * 0.0 - ''Watts Hill Quarry'' - operating between October 1900 and May 1927 * ''Pilot Beach (Bay Street)'' - operating between October 1900 and 1946 * 1.1 - ''Pilot Bay Jetty'' - operating between 1904 and May 1927 * 2.2 - ''West Breakwater Base'' - operating between 19 June and 1946 * 2.6 - ''Macquarie Heads (Langtry Street)'' * 2.8 - ''Town Wharf'' * 5.4 - ''Wellington Head Quarry'' - operating between 1904 and May 1927

Breakwater

Horse drawn tram

Notes

See also