BHS Boat Shed News

The Ballarat High School Boat Shed has had many renovations and expansions over the years since its first construction in 1961. The school is about to sign off on the latest major upgrade of the shed by replacing the current wooden jetties with new aluminium and plastic floating pontoons, very similar to the ones found on the south side of the lake near Loreto. 

The current wooden jetties have high maintenance requirements, breaking regularly, and can damage the boats easily. The school has had to replace on average over 200m of boards per season, over the last several years. A new solution needed to be found and over the past 18 months we have been investigating many options.

We have been in consultation with many local companies regarding concept designs and ideas to make our boat launching jetties/pontoons safer and more user friendly. French Company, Poralu Marine have come on board in consultation with local council to come up with our new design that will satisfy the school’s needs and also meet the current Lake Wendouree overlays. 

These new pontoons will have the ability to launch boats from each side as well as the ends of the pontoon that we currently cannot do. Rubber padding around the outside of the pontoons should prevent damage to the boats. Plastic non-slip tiles will ensure safety of all users and will not rot or break. Aluminium frames will protect against rust issues.

The aim is to have these new pontoons installed by late September or early October this year in readiness for the next rowing season. We thank Warren Gosby from Connected Construction for his many hours spent on this project over the past 18 months, Maria-Alexander from Poralu Marine and Bruce Hollioake our local engineer. Finally, thank you to the Ballarat High School Council for their support on this project.

Robert Simmonds

Director of Sport and Rowing