McDesme is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the Shire of Burdekin,

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. In the McDesme had a population of 277 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the south by the Burdekin River. There are three neighbourhoods in the locality: * Macdesme (different spelling to the locality) () *Katoora () * Marali () The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south (

Home Hill Home Hill is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Home Hill had a population of 2,954 people. At the delta of the Burdekin River, it is a sugarcane growing area with underground wa ...

across the river via the

Burdekin Bridge The Burdekin Bridge (known as the Burdekin River Bridge or Silver Link) spans the Burdekin River between the towns of Ayr (locality of McDesme) to the north and Home Hill to the south, both in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. Loc ...

) and exits to the north (

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

). There are three now-abandoned railway stations on the line within the locality: * Macdesme railway station () * Katoora railway station () *Marali railway station ()

History

All three neighbourhoods take their name from a railway station. The Marali railway station was named on 9 November 1917. ''Marali'' is an Aboriginal word meaning '' tomorrow''. McDesme Provisional School opened on 1905. On 1 January 1909 it became McDesme State School. It closed circa 1964. The Inkerman Bridge across the Burdekin River to

officially opened on 8 September 1913. The bridge carried the North Coast railway line. As the nearest road bridge across the river was upstream, a low-level road bridge was built across the river () in 1929 and was completed in January 1930 and within two weeks was under water due to the river flooding. Due to the frequent flooding of the river, the rail and road bridges were often closed or damaged, leading to the decision to build a single higher-level road-and-rail bridge. Due to the lack of rock in the sandy soil to use as foundations, for many years it was not believed possible to build a high-level bridge across the Burdekin River. However, by copying construction techniques used in India for sand-footing bridges, work began on the

(also known as the Silver Link) in April 1947 but it was not operational until 27 March 1957. The new bridge was upstream of the Inkerman Bridge. The Burdekin Bridge officially opened on 15 June 1957. At , the Burdekin Bridge is one of the longest multi-span bridges in Australia and the only one in Australia without a firm footing. Some pylons of the Inkerman Bridge are still visible. In the McDesme had a population of 277 people.

References

{{Shire of Burdekin Shire of Burdekin Localities in Queensland