Burnett Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...

crossing the

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river located in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta a ...

Bundaberg Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The bridge is located between

Bundaberg Central Bundaberg Central is the central Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb and central business district of Bundaberg in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bundaberg Central had a population of 316 people. Geography The su ...

and

Bundaberg North Bundaberg North is a suburb of Bundaberg in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bundaberg North had a population of 5,451 people. It occupies the developed area north of the Burnett River, opposite the Bundaberg CBD. Geograp ...

to the west of Burnett Road Bridge.

History

The Burnett Railway Bridge is a metal truss rail bridge spanning the

, Queensland, and used by the North Coast Railway Line. A

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

had opened from North Bundaberg to Mount Perry in 1884. That line started from the opposite side of the Burnett River from the main part of Bundaberg in order to speed up

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

of the line and save the cost of constructing a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. The 534-metre bridge over the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

was eventually built to connect the two lines, and opened on 15 June 1891. The bridge was the first permanent structure to span the Burnett River. Burnett Railway Bridge during 1893 flood

Burnett Railway Bridge during 1893 flood

In 1893 there was a severe

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

event due to multiple

cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

. It was referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 and Black February flood. On 2 February, a

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

caused severe flooding across

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. T ...

, including floods at Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg. The second cyclone struck on 11 February, initially causing only minor flood damage compared to the first flood. On 13 February 1893, there was another flood in the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

, which resulted in the rapid rise of the Burnett.Deluge: the true story of the Great Brisbane Flood of 1893. On 17 February, another cyclone crossed the Queensland coast near Bundaberg causing a downpour on the already drenched Brisbane River

catchment A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

, which resulted in the third flood of the year. Flood waters subsided on 21 February.

Details

The Burnett River Rail Bridge is located 351.77 km from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in Bundaberg. It consists of a nine-span

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

each of 33.4 m. Together the approach spans and

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

spans total at a

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

of 534 m. It carries a single

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and a

walkway In American English, walkway is a composite or umbrella term for all engineered surfaces or structures which support the use of trails. ''The New Oxford American Dictionary'' also defines a walkway as "a passage or path for walking along, esp. a ...

for maintenance crew. It was constructed in the 1890s using

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an ornam ...

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

for the main spans. To increase the strength of the bridge, the through

girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...

spans were replaced in the 1920s with the current steel trusses seen today. There were further upgrades in the 1980s and 90s to replace the timber approach spans with more modern truss spans. This improved the clearances containers to be transported along the line. The QR Network identified significant deterioration in the cast iron piers and placed a

speed restriction Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...

of 15 kph on the bridge. In August 2009,

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...

commissioned Jacobs SKM to undertake a load rating assessment on three bridges between Bundaberg and

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

on the North Coast Line. The Burnett River Bridge was selected as the first to be examined due to

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

of the iron piers and its proximity to Bundaberg. The investigation would determine whether it was feasible to repair and maintain the bridge or whether it should be replaced. A trial was carried out to test bending stresses in the piers and longitudinal stresses in the beams on the bridge. The trail was done to evaluate the effect of a locomotives braking load distribution on the bridge. As

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

braking on bridges has sufficient capability to initiate cracks and increases the crack growth rate. To commence the test, the speed restriction was relaxed to 40kph and a 110

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

2250 class locomotive was used to represent an in-service train load. The

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

had recommended that the bridge be replaced due to observed corrosion and cracking in the iron piers. The replacement of the bridge was expected to cost an excess of $100AU Million. However following suggested strengthening methods, it was determined that the bridge could achieve a further 30 years of service that would cost about 5% of the total replacement cost.

References

{{reflist Queensland Heritage Register Buildings and structures in Bundaberg Railway bridges in Queensland Steel bridges in Australia Bundaberg Central