Kangaroo Point Bollard Retirement & Top Anchors
06th July 2025
By ACAQ
Kangaroo Point bollard retirement and top anchors last week marked the end of a chapter in the climbing history of Kangaroo Point, with Brisbane City Council (BCC) completing the removal of the last 41 concrete bollards used for top roping and abseiling anchors. The bollards have been in service for circa 40 years, though in the last 10 years or so, a number have needed to be replaced with stainless steel ones, and repairs made to the foundations.
As previously advised, in recent months, Brisbane City Council (BCC) replaced the 77 climber installed U-Bolts used for top rope anchors and abseiling at KP at the base of and in the wall at the top of the cliffs with 145 stainless steel U-Bolts.
BCC have been consulting with ACAQ for some time on the broader project, after they received a report in December 2023 recommending that they simply chop all the climber installed U-Bolts. We raised with them the possibility of installing additional bollards to replace U-Bolts, but this would have needed to occur over a number of years due to the cost.
We therefore suggested that BCC could install ‘certified’ bolts at a fraction of the cost of even a few extra bollards, which they accepted.
Feedback provided to ACAQ from the community was that U-Bolts were considered at least equal to bollards, and a number of comments were that setting up on U-Bolts was often quicker due to the ease of clipping carabiners to them.
BCC decided to decommission rather than replace the remaining concrete bollards over time, and increased the number of U-Bolts installed to maintain and in fact increase the coverage of top anchors at Kangaroo Point (compared to the prior combination of U-Bolts, Bollards, and the odd ‘drain hole’ wall anchor).
ACAQ wishes to acknowledge the Council working with us to find a resolution to the issues, and also is grateful to those members, including the Uni Clubs, that provided input on the issues and feedback on usage and identified gaps in existing coverage.
You can view a short video showcasing some of the new U- Bolts here.