Flat Top Island Light is an inactive
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses mar ...
on Flat Top Island, a small island off the entrance to Mackay harbor at the mouth of
Pioneer River, about east of
Mackay Mackay may refer to:
*Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives
Mackay may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Mackay Region, a local government area
** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region
*** Mackay Airport ...
,
Queensland,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It used to mark the river entrance for shipping and the direction of the port, as well as highlighting close by shoals at Shoalwater Point and a reef off
Hay Point. At from the ground to the lantern floor, it is the shortest of Queensland's timber-framed iron clad lighthouses.
History
Tenders for the construction of the lighthouse were called in February 1877, and the tender accepted on September of that year was by Archibald McIntyre. Construction commenced in December 1877 and complete in May 1878. However, the lighthouse was not officially lit, as the permanent apparatus was not available and a temporary one was used. The light was officially lit only on 27 December 1879 with the installation of the permanent apparatus.
As typical for lighthouses of that period in Queensland, the tower is conical in shape, built of an internal
timber frame,
clad
Cladding is an outer layer of material covering another. It may refer to the following:
*Cladding (boiler), the layer of insulation and outer wrapping around a boiler shell
*Cladding (construction), materials applied to the exterior of buildings
...
with
galvanized iron plates. The foundation was deep and wide, made of stone and
concrete. The lighthouse diameter is at the bottom and at the top. The height of the tower is from the ground to the balcony, making it the shortest of the composite lighthouses ever built in Queensland. From the ground to the top the height reported on construction was , with the light being shown at . However, the height was no hindrance, as the focal height was .
[ The permanent light installed was a fixed fourth order dioptric and was visible for . It showed white light for directions clear of danger (except where obscured by the close by Round Top Island) and red over danger. An additional red sector was later installed to show further dangerous locations.][ The lighthouse is currently painted white with a red dome.
In January 1918 the lighthouse was the only structure on the island and the only aid to navigation to survive the 1918 Mackay cyclone.]
Site operation and visiting
The lighthouse is currently inactive. Before that, it was operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The island is accessible only by boat. It is unclear whether public access to the site and tower are available.
See also
* List of lighthouses in Australia
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Authority control
Lighthouses completed in 1878
Lighthouses in Queensland
Queensland places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate
Buildings and structures in North Queensland
1878 establishments in Australia
History of transport in Queensland