Journal Article

In the late 19{th} and early 20{th} century, coastal shipping provided the only reliable transport link between the Clarence Valley, in northern New South Wales (NSW), and Sydney. Towns such as Grafton, Lawrence and Maclean developed as ports, which also served the NSW Northern Tablelands region prior to construction of a railway to that area. Engineering infrastructure developed to support shipping included extensive port entrance works, a dry dock at Ashby, associated road transport links, vehicular ferries and bridges. Following completion of the Sydney to South Grafton railway in 1923, reliance on coastal shipping declined and cessation of regular trade in 1954 made much of the port infrastructure redundant. The transport engineering infrastructure developed in the Clarence Valley, primarily in support of coastal shipping, provides a rich engineering heritage and examples of engineering technological development in the late 19{th} and early 20{th} centuries.