The New Burnett Heads Light, also known as South Head Light, is an active lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

 standing on the south side of the Burnett River

Burnett River

The Burnett River is a river in central Queensland, Australia that empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Bundaberg. The Burnett River region is largely given over to growing sugar cane....

 entrance, in Burnett Heads, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In 1971 it replaced the Old Burnett Heads Light

Old Burnett Heads Light

The Old Burnett Heads Light is an inactive lighthouse which used to be located on the south side of the Burnett River entrance, in Burnett Heads, Queensland, Australia. It was relocated to the Burnett Heads Lighthouse Holiday Park...

, which was relocated inland.

History

The Old Burnett Heads Light

Old Burnett Heads Light

The Old Burnett Heads Light is an inactive lighthouse which used to be located on the south side of the Burnett River entrance, in Burnett Heads, Queensland, Australia. It was relocated to the Burnett Heads Lighthouse Holiday Park...

 stood on the south side of the Burnett River entrance between 1873 and 1971, when it was replaced with this tower. The new lighthouse was the fourth of a group of seven concrete towers erected by the Commonwealth between 1964 and 1979, by order of construction, Cape Capricorn Light

Cape Capricorn Light

Cape Capricorn Light is an active lighthouse located on Cape Capricorn, a coastal headland on the northeast point of Curtis Island, in Central Queensland, Australia...

, New Caloundra Light

New Caloundra Light

New Caloundra Light, also known as New Caloundra Head Light, is an inactive lighthouse located in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia. It stands on Canberra Terrace near downtown Caloundra. The lighthouse was active from 1968 to 1992...

, Point Danger Light

Point Danger Light

Point Danger Light, also known as the Captain Cook Memorial Light, is an active lighthouse located on Point Danger, a headland between Coolangatta, Queensland and Tweed Heads, New South Wales, marking the border between New South Wales and Queensland, Australia...

, itself, Fitzroy Island Light

Fitzroy Island Light

Fitzroy Island Light is an inactive lighthouse on Fitzroy Island, a continental island southeast of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was only active between 1973 and 1992, though a light station at the area is active since 1926 and to these days...

, Point Cartwright Light

Point Cartwright Light

Point Cartwright Light is an active lighthouse located on Point Cartwright, a point near the mouth of the Mooloolah River, in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia...

 and Archer Point Light

Archer Point Light

Archer Point Light is an active lighthouse located on Archer Point, a conical, , grassy headland, about southeast of Cooktown, Queensland, Australia. Originally an 1883 timber frame lighthouse, covered with galvanised iron, it was replaced in 1975 with a modern square concrete equipment room,...

. The tower is made of concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 and covered with tiles, in the "swimming pool" style, much like Point Cartwright Light

Point Cartwright Light

Point Cartwright Light is an active lighthouse located on Point Cartwright, a point near the mouth of the Mooloolah River, in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia...

 and Fitzroy Island Light

Fitzroy Island Light

Fitzroy Island Light is an inactive lighthouse on Fitzroy Island, a continental island southeast of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was only active between 1973 and 1992, though a light station at the area is active since 1926 and to these days...

. The concrete base of the old lighthouse is still present next to the new tower. The lighthouse also carries a Cospas-Sarsat

Cospas-Sarsat

Cospas-Sarsat is an international satellite-based search and rescue distress alert detection and information distribution system, established by Canada, France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union in 1979. It is best known as the system that detects and locates emergency beacons...

 receiver, one of a pair in Australia, the second being at Cave Point Light, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

Light specifications

The light characteristic shown is four white flashes every twenty seconds Fl.(4)W. 20s, only visible in the sector 120°-320°.
The light source is a 12 Volt

Volt

The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...

 50 Watt

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

 tungsten-halogen lamp, fed from the Mains electricity

Mains electricity

Mains is the general-purpose alternating current electric power supply. In the US, electric power is referred to by several names including household power, household electricity, powerline, domestic power, wall power, line power, AC power, city power, street power, and grid power...

, providing a light intensity of 55,000 cd

Candela

The candela is the SI base unit of luminous intensity; that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, weighted by the luminosity function . A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela...

, visible for 18 nautical miles (33.3 km).

Site operation and visiting

The site and the lighthouse are manages by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations...

. The site is open, but the tower is closed to the public.