Port Hedland, Western Australia

Port Hedland (Kariyarra: Marapikurrinya) is the second largest town[2] in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with an urban population of 14,320[1] at June 2018 including the satellite town of South Hedland, 18 km away. It is also the site of the highest tonnage port in Australia.[3]

This article is about the locality. For the port and harbour, see Port of Port Hedland. For the local authority, see Town of Port Hedland.

Port Hedland
Western Australia
Esplanade Hotel, Port Hedland, April 2012
Port Hedland
Coordinates20°18′36″S 118°36′04″E
Population14,320 (2018)[1]
Established22 October 1896
Postcode(s)6721
Elevation6 m (20 ft)
Time zoneAWST (UTC+8)
Location
  • 1,322 km (821 mi) from Perth
  • 612 km (380 mi) from Broome
LGA(s)Town of Port Hedland
State electorate(s)Pilbara
Federal Division(s)Durack
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall
33.3 °C
92 °F		 19.5 °C
67 °F		 318.9 mm
12.6 in

Port Hedland has a natural deep anchorage harbour which, as well as being the main fuel and container receival point for the region, was seen as perfect for shipment of the iron ore being mined in the ranges located inland from the town. The ore is moved by railway from four major iron ore deposits to the east and south of the Port Hedland area. The port exported 519,408,000 tonnes of iron ore (2017–2018).[4] Other major resource activities supported by the town include the offshore natural gas fields, salt, manganese, and livestock. Major deposits of lithium are being developed and exploited south of the town as well. Grazing of cattle and sheep was formerly a major revenue earner for the region, but this has slowly declined. Port Hedland was also formerly the terminus for the WAGR Marble Bar Railway, which serviced the gold mining area of Marble Bar from July 1911 until closure on 31 October 1951. The locomotive from the Port Hedland to Marble Bar rail service is now preserved at the Kalamunda Historical Village in the south of the state. Located between Port Hedland and South Hedland are the large salt hills of Dampier Salt, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. These large mounds have almost become a tourist attraction in their own right.

History
Iron ore mines in the Pilbara region.

Port Hedland is known by the Indigenous Kariyarra and Nyamal people as Marapikurrinya, which either means "place of good water" (as told by a Nyamal language speaker) and makes reference to the three reliable fresh water soaks that can still be seen in and around the town, or as the town council's website says "refers to the hand like formation of the tidal creeks coming off the harbour (marra - hand, pikurri - pointing straight and nya - a place name marker)".[5] According to Dreamtime legend, there was a huge blind water snake living in the landlocked area of water known as Jalkawarrinya. This landlocked area is now the turning basin for the ships that enter the port and as the story goes, "the coming of the big ships meant it was unable to stay".

The coastline in the area was seen by European mariners as early as 1628, when the Dutch merchant ship Vianen, captained by Gerrit Franszoon de Witt visited.

Swedish-born mariner Peter Hedland was the first European to note the harbour's existence and the possibility of using it as a port. Peter Hedland arrived in the area in April 1863 on board his boat Mystery, which he had built himself at Point Walter on the banks of the Swan River. He named the harbour Mangrove Harbour and reported that it would make a good landing site with a well protected harbour, and that there was also fresh water available. However, the port was initially regarded as unusable, due to a sandbar that frequently sealed the entrance and thick mangroves round the shore; further, the narrow entrance made the harbour difficult to enter in bad weather.[6]

In 1866, the Government Resident at Roebourne, Robert John Sholl, directed Charles Wedge to re-examine Port Hedland as an alternative port, because the distance from Tien Tsin Harbour (later known as Cossack) was discouraging settlement in areas such as the De Grey River. Wedge encountered difficulties in his efforts, as he was hampered by heavy rain and the tidal creeks around Mangrove Harbour and was unable to reach the proposed port site to survey its suitability.[7][8]

In 1891, exploration of the area by Tom Traine, John Wedge (son of Charles Wedge)[9] and Syd Hedley identified two landings and described the harbour as "pretty as well as safe". In September 1895, Cossack residents requested the District Surveyor survey the headland at Port Hedland in order to establish a town and requested that the Government build a jetty.[10]

In 1896, the Port Hedland town site was surveyed by government surveyor E.W. Geyer, who named the grid of streets after the pastoral pioneers, including Richardson, Withnell, Wedge and McKay streets, and in October 1896, the town site was gazetted.[10]

By 1905, the Roads Board had made considerable improvements to the roads and streets.[11]

By 1946, approximately 150 people lived in the area.

The population of the town in 1968 was about 3,000 people.[12]

Mining

Goldsworthy Mining developed an iron ore mine approximately 100 kilometres east of Port Hedland in the early 1960s and built the towns of Goldsworthy and later Shay Gap as mine sites. A rail line was then built to Port Hedland, where dredging was undertaken to deepen and widen the port's channel, and a wharf was built opposite the township of Port Hedland on Finucane Island. Shipment of ore began on 27 May 1966, when the Harvey S. Mudd sailed from Port Hedland to Japan with 24,900 tonnes of ore.

In 1967, iron ore was discovered at Mount Whaleback, and a mining venture was undertaken that included the establishment of a new town, Newman, 426 km of rail from the mine to the port and the development of processing equipment at both Newman and Port Hedland. In 1986, at a cost of $87 million, the existing channel was dredged to allow larger ships to enter the port. Prior to dredging, the port was only able to load vessels of less than 2,000 tonnes, but today it is able to accommodate ships over 250,000 tonnes.

In 2013, finance was being raised for yet another iron ore mine, railway and port, this time for the Roy Hill project. It requires a 344 km railway.[13]

With the neighbouring ports of Port Walcott and Dampier, Port Hedland is one of three major iron ore exporting ports in the Pilbara region.[14]

1968 plane crash
Main article: MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750

On 31 December 1968, a Vickers Viscount operated by MacRobertson Miller Airlines crashed at nearby Indee Station. The plane had flown from Perth without incident until about 10 minutes before landing at Port Hedland. The aircraft suffered catastrophic failure of the spar in the right wing. The wing suddenly separated from the fuselage. All 26 on board, including both pilots and two flight attendants, were killed.[15][16]

Immigration detention facility

In 1991, an immigration detention facility, the Port Hedland Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, was opened to deal with the arrival of boat people seeking asylum. Port Hedland was seen as a good location, as it is in an area where many asylum seekers arriving by boat were entering Australia, and it had an international airport that would allow for easy deportations when required. The detention centre, situated on the beach front, was formerly a single-men's quarters for Mount Newman Mining Co.[17] The centre was privatised by the first Howard Ministry in the late 1990s. It was closed in 2004 due to the falling number of asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia's north-west.[18] The town mayor called for the federal government to allow the town to use the detention centre to accommodate the many new mine workers needed for the town's mining boom. A lack of accommodation made it difficult for companies to operate efficiently, as they were unable to house staff or consultants within the town's small number of hotels. The centre is now operating as the Beachfront Village.[19]

West End

In October 2019 the state government announced an Improvement Plan would be imposed over the West End of Port Hedland. The purpose of the plan was to prohibit all future residential development due to the health impacts caused by dust levels generated by Port activities.

Climate

Port Hedland has a semi arid climate (BSk) with a tropical savanna climate (Aw) influence. Port Hedland is warm to hot all year round, with mean maximum temperatures of 36.4 °C (97.5 °F) in January and 27.1 °C (80.8 °F) in July. Maximum temperatures in summer are usually moderated by a warm but humid sea breeze. Port Hedland is very sunny, averaging over 10 hours of sunshine per day annually and being in the sunniest region of Australia,[20] receiving around 218.9 clear days annually. Dewpoint in the warmer months typically ranges from 19 to 22 °C (66 to 72 °F).

Annual rainfall (falling almost exclusively between December and June) averages 311.5 mm (12.26 in) but because of erratic cyclones is subject to some of the largest variations in annual precipitation in the world. As an illustration, in 1942, 1,040 mm (41 in) fell, but in 1944 only 32 mm (1.3 in) fell and the town went for over 300 days with no rain. The town received record daily rainfall on 27 January 1967 when a total of 387.1 mm (15.24 in) of rainfall was recorded for 24 hours, which is more than the mean annual rainfall.[21] The high summer temperatures experienced in Port Hedland mean that most tourists to the area choose to visit in the cooler months between May and September.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the Western Pilbara, including Port Hedland is the sunniest place in Australia; being the only place to record an annual average of more than 10 hours a day of sunshine.[22]

Climate data for Port Hedland (Port Hedland Airport 1942-2019)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 49.0
(120.2)		 48.2
(118.8)		 47.0
(116.6)		 42.8
(109.0)		 38.8
(101.8)		 35.5
(95.9)		 34.4
(93.9)		 36.8
(98.2)		 42.2
(108.0)		 46.9
(116.4)		 47.4
(117.3)		 47.9
(118.2)		 49.0
(120.2)
Average high °C (°F) 36.4
(97.5)		 36.3
(97.3)		 36.8
(98.2)		 35.2
(95.4)		 30.6
(87.1)		 27.6
(81.7)		 27.2
(81.0)		 29.2
(84.6)		 32.3
(90.1)		 35.0
(95.0)		 36.3
(97.3)		 36.6
(97.9)		 33.3
(91.9)
Average low °C (°F) 25.6
(78.1)		 25.5
(77.9)		 24.6
(76.3)		 21.5
(70.7)		 17.3
(63.1)		 14.2
(57.6)		 12.4
(54.3)		 13.2
(55.8)		 15.4
(59.7)		 18.6
(65.5)		 21.4
(70.5)		 24.1
(75.4)		 19.5
(67.1)
Record low °C (°F) 18.1
(64.6)		 16.3
(61.3)		 15.8
(60.4)		 12.2
(54.0)		 7.0
(44.6)		 4.7
(40.5)		 3.2
(37.8)		 3.7
(38.7)		 7.7
(45.9)		 11.1
(52.0)		 12.4
(54.3)		 16.6
(61.9)		 3.2
(37.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 62.8
(2.47)		 91.3
(3.59)		 47.8
(1.88)		 21.9
(0.86)		 27.7
(1.09)		 23.5
(0.93)		 11.0
(0.43)		 4.8
(0.19)		 1.2
(0.05)		 1.0
(0.04)		 2.5
(0.10)		 19.0
(0.75)		 318.9
(12.56)
Average precipitation days 5.1 7.1 4.4 1.9 3.3 3.1 2.1 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.6 1.8 32.3
Average afternoon relative humidity (%) 51 53 45 37 36 35 32 31 31 35 39 45 39
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[21]

Infrastructure

Harbour
Main article: Port of Port Hedland

Port Hedland's harbour is managed by the Pilbara Ports Authority, a state government instrumentality. The Port Authority's headquarters, control tower and heliport are at Mangrove Point, just to the west of The Esplanade at the western end of Port Hedland. The tugboat pen, customs office and public jetty are at nearby Laurentius Point.

The harbour's wharves are located on both sides of the harbour: Finucane Island to the west and Port Hedland to the east. Access by oceangoing vessels into and out of the harbour is via a narrow curved channel.

A tower, installed on 10 September 2012. The structure, which stands at some 60 m above ground level, has been coined Port Hedland's 'Tower of Dreams' and was constructed by Goodline.

Education

The area contains five primary schools (four government, one Catholic), along with Hedland Senior High School and the Port Hedland School of the Air.

Fauna and flora

Port Hedland has a flatback sea turtle rookery, located on the main beach front. Several lookouts along the beach front path allow views of marine mammals including Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins and Australian snubfin dolphins.

The Port Hedland Saltworks Important Bird Area is a 103 km2 tract of originally intertidal land, now containing a saltern, about 20 km east of the port of Port Hedland. The site regularly supports over 1% of the world populations of red-necked stints and sharp-tailed sandpipers, as well as a population of the range-restricted dusky gerygone.[23] Species that have strongly declined since the 1980s are broad-billed sandpipers, Asian dowitchers, curlew sandpipers, red-necked avocets, banded stilts, Oriental plovers, Oriental pratincoles and white-winged black terns. Other species present include Australian bustards, bush stone-curlews, western bowerbirds, painted finches and canary white-eyes.[24]

Estuaries such as Pretty Pool support mangroves, marine fish, and birds.

Environmental issues

Pollution from iron ore dust regularly exceeds national standards. The local hospitalisation rate for respiratory infections is 30% higher than the Western Australian average.[25]

Blackrock Stakes

The Blackrock Stakes is a 122 km race from Goldsworthy to Port Hedland in which competitors, either in teams or as individuals, push wheelbarrows weighed down with iron ore. It was first run in 1971, and competitors pushed a wheelbarrow full of iron ore from a remote mine site into Port Hedland. Since then the race has grown to raise than $1 million for charity as a modified version where teams of 10, trios, duos and lone runners now push modified wheelbarrows containing 11 kg of iron ore over the distance.[26]

See also

References

Notes
  1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2008 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
  2. "Australia: Urban Centers - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. "Port Hedland Port Authority". Archived from the original on 21 July 2005. Retrieved 3 December 2006.
  4. https://www.pilbaraports.com.au/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Town of Port Hedland (18 March 2005). "History". Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
  6. Hardie, J. (1981). Nor'westers of the Pilbara Breed. Port Hedland, Western Australia: Shire of Port Hedland. ISBN 0-9594155-0-5.
  7. "Nicol Bay". The Inquirer & Commercial News. 3 August 1866. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  8. Wedge, Charles (8 August 1866). "Exploration". The Inquirer & Commercial News. Perth, WA. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  9. "Obituary: J.E. Wedge of "Whatea", Gingin". The Moora Herald and Midland Districts Advocate. 16 June 1922. p. 2. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  10. Chinnery, Robin; Griffiths, Philip (17 March 2006). "District Medical Officer's Quarters (fmr.)". Register of Heritage Places – Assessment Documentation. Heritage Council of Western Australia. p. 4. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  11. "PORT HEDLAND". Western Mail. XX (1, 040). Western Australia. 2 December 1905. p. 33. Retrieved 2 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Government members Mining and National Development Committees fact finding tour July 1968" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  13. http://www.railpage.com.au/f-p1883323.htm#1883323 Archived 27 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Annual report 2015 - Pilbara ports authority. Port Hedland: PPA (Pilbara ports authority). 1 May 2016. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  15. "Port Hedland, Western Australia: Aircraft Crash". Emergency Management Australia disasters database. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  16. "Vickers Viscount aircrash near Port Hedland, 1968 - 26 dead". johnwilliambarnes.spaces.live.com/Blog. 11 April 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  17. Shire of Port Hedland (27 February 2016). "Port Hedland Detention Centre (fmr)". inHerit. Perth, WA: Heritage Council of WA. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  18. Birman, Wendy (2009). "Port Hedland". In Gregory, Jenny; Gothard, Jan (eds.). Historical encyclopedia of Western Australia. Crawley, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press. p. 714. ISBN 9781921401152.
  19. Whelan Town Planning (January 2014). "Attachment 1 to Item 12.1.2 Proposed Final Adoption of Scheme Amendment no 64 to The Town of Port Hedland Town Planning Scheme No 5" (PDF). Port Hedland, WA: Town of Port Hedland. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  20. http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/climate_averages/sunshine-hours/index.jsp
  21. "Climate statistics". Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  22. Paddenburg, Trevor (7 May 2017). "It's official: WA the new Sunshine State, with more hours of light than Queensland". The Sunday Times. Perth. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  23. "IBA: Port Hedland Saltworks". Birdata. Birds Australia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  24. BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Port Hedland Saltworks. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org Archived 10 July 2007 at WebCite on 22 September 2011.
  25. "What if Australian cities were shrouded in smog?". news.com.au. News Limited. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  26. ABC Blackrock States broadcast Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine.

Further reading
  • Shaw, Murray (2006). Moving Mountains: The Evolution of Port Hedland Harbour. Carlisle, WA: Hesperian Press. ISBN 085905389X.

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