Road Photos & Information: Queensland
Bridges
Crossing from South Australia into Queensland, near Birdsville, October 2018. Image © Richard Wardle.
General Information:
According to Stuart Rothwell from Engineers Australia's Queensland Heritage Committee, early bridges around Brisbane and Queensland were built from timber and steel, with the Department of Main Roads still managing several hundred timber bridges across the state. Many of the bridges stand as examples of varied architectural styles over the decades, ranging from steel structures to more modern pre-cast concrete structures. 1
Burnett Bridge (Bundaberg, QLD): 2
The route features the Burnett Bridge (also known as Burnett River Traffic Bridge) joins Quay Street, Bundaberg with Perry Street, North Bundaberg, across the Burnett River. It is 412 metres in length and has eight 51.9 long spans with cylindrical piers and concrete abutments. The bridge carries a 7.3 metres roadway and a footpath. The road is on transverse metal troughing spanning between the lower chords of hog-back lattice trusses.
The bridge is a metal truss bridge and a significant example of the work of Alfred Barton Brady who, during 37 years of work for several departments of the Queensland government, made a major contribution to the development of the state in both architecture and engineering design.
When it was opened to traffic on 24 August 1900, the Burnett Bridge on was the fifth longest metal truss bridge in Australia. It was completed at a time when funds for local authorities were scarce because of priority given by the government to developmental railways. Half the cost was met by endowment; the other half was advanced to the local authorities as a loan repayable in forty years.
Originally the two sides of the river was linked via ferry, but it was replaced with a timber bridge in the 1870s before the current bridge was built.
Burnett Bridge:
Northbound on the Burnett Bridge over Burnett River, Bundaberg, December 2009.
Image © Rob Tilley
Burnett Bridge:
Looking southbound on Burnett Bridge, North Bundaberg, March 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
Burnett Bridge:
Looking southbound on Burnett Bridge, North Bundaberg, March 2006.
Image © Paul Rands
2 QLD Government, Environment and Resource Management, Cultural Heritage, Burnett Bridge.