College's Crossing (also known as Colleges Crossing) is a low level bridge that crosses

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 ...

at Chuwar, a suburb of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

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 ...

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 road across the bridge is Mount Crosby Road. During major floods or water releases from the Wivenhoe Dam the road becomes impassable. The crossing was constructed to replace a previous structure which had been washed away during floods. It was opened in 1894 with a ceremony that was attended by the Mayor of Ipswich, H.E. Wyman. College's Crossing is named after George College (sometimes spelled Colledge), one of the first settlers who bought a land on the north side of the Brisbane River in 1854. It was the first river crossing in the district which allowed access across the river before the first bridge was constructed. Located here is a park, known as Colleges Crossing Recreational Reserve, which is a popular picnic and tourist spot for the residents of Brisbane and Ipswich from the early 1920s. It was completely destroyed during the 2010-11 floods, which saw a rise in the water level of over 17 metres with strong currents. The park was equipped with barbecues, playground facilities, a cafe, lookouts, boat ramp, bird hide and clean water for drinking. Swimming, canoeing, kayaking and fishing are also popular in the area. Four and half kilometres upstream from Colleges Crossing is the

Mount Crosby Weir The Mount Crosby Weir is a heritage-listed weir on the Brisbane River at Mount Crosby and Chuwar, both in City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The project was instigated by John Petrie at the end of the 19th century. The town of Brisbane wa ...

and

Mount Crosby Pumping Station Mount Crosby pumping station is a heritage-listed pumping station and weir (the Mount Crosby Weir) at Stumers Road, Mount Crosby, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is located on the Brisbane River and extends into Chuwar on the other s ...

. Downstream from the crossing swimming is not recommended due to the presence of bull sharks and due to poor water quality. In 1960 2 shark attacks were reported in Sunday Mail 27/3/94, SMH 21/12/1960. In January 1939 the Courier Mail reported the landing of a 4 ft 6in bluenose shark on a rod and reel at the popular bathing spot. File:FormalOpeningCollege'sCrossingBridge1894c.jpg, An 1894 notice regarding the opening of the bridge crossing File:College's Crossing under water Jan 2012.jpg, College's Crossing under water in January 2012

References

{{coord, -27.5569, 152.8041, type:landmark_region:AU, display=title Bridges over the Brisbane River Road bridges in Queensland Beam bridges Concrete bridges in Australia

See also

References