North Reef Light, Maritime navigation structure at North Reef, Queensland, Australia.
North Reef Light is a lighthouse on North Reef, a planar coral reef about 120 kilometres northeast of Gladstone, Queensland. Its base is a 13-metre-wide ring of bolted cast iron segments, 4.6 metres high, filled with concrete to resist shifting sand and to serve as a freshwater tank. Above it rises an 18-metre conical timber-framed tower clad in white galvanised iron, topped by a Chance Brothers lantern with a red dome.
Construction began in 1876 and was completed in 1878, following recommendations from a parliamentary committee made in 1864. Building this lighthouse was part of a broader effort to improve maritime safety infrastructure along the Queensland coast during the nineteenth century.
The light's Morse code racon transmits the letter "Q", and the two white flashes every 15 seconds are timed five seconds apart. Only unmarried men were posted as keepers because the cramped quarters and shifting sands made family life impossible. The keepers' residence is a ring of eight rooms around the tower base, with three bedrooms, two sitting rooms, two kitchens and a storeroom.
The island can be reached by boat, but the site and the light are closed to the public, so the tower is only seen from the water. The light is operated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Its two white flashes come every 15 seconds and reach 17 nautical miles.
The keepers' quarters form a ring of eight rooms around the tower base, with three bedrooms, two sitting rooms, two kitchens and a storeroom. Because shifting sands could leave the tower surrounded by water, only unmarried men were posted here as keepers.
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