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Soon after,
American hydraulic specialist Lindon W. Bates visited Rockhampton and claimed
the 'certainty' of achieving 20ft to the town wharves. Like those before him,
Bates recommended closing off side passages by constructing Satellite Wall, but
extending it farther downstream, and erecting Shoal Island Wall, but continuing
it to Iguana Point. He advised that No 1 Wall needed realignment, although closer
to the original wall and not as severely as Schmidt and Bell had recommended.
He also advised the construction of additional walls on the northern bank of the
flats. Like Schmidt, Bates suggested cutting through Pirate Point.4
While that idea again was not adopted, most of Bates' construction plans were
incorporated into the RBH improvements for the river. When accompanied by his
recommendations for intensified dredging, Bates' ideas had the most profound impact
on the river of any scheme before or since.
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