Splitters Creek Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed

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

across Splitters Creek on the Bundaberg - Mount Perry Line, between Oakwood and

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

in the

Bundaberg Region The Bundaberg Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the city of Bundaberg, and also contains a significant rural area surroundin ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. It was built from 1879 to 1880 by J & A Overend. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

StateLibQld 2 234324 Splitters Creek railway bridge near Bundaberg

The contract for the first section of the Mount Perry railway was awarded to J. & A. Overend and Company in November 1878. Progress on the railway was delayed during 1879 by construction of the bridge over Splitters Creek. The original design required

screw pile Screw piles, sometimes referred to as screw-piles, screw piers, screw anchors, screw it foundations, ground screws, helical piles, helical piers, or helical anchors are a steel screw-in piling and ground anchoring system used for building deep ...

foundations, but a deep bed of boulders was encountered and cast iron

caissons Caisson (French for "box") may refer to: * Caisson (engineering), a sealed underwater structure * Caisson (vehicle), a two-wheeled cart for carrying ammunition, also used in certain state and military funerals * Caisson (Asian architecture), a sp ...

, later filled with concrete and brickwork, had to be sunk instead. Work was further delayed by an unsuccessful attempt by the contractors to use

coffer dam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...

s to aid the sinking of the piers. The bridge was completed in 1880 with the use of compressed air equipment obtained from the engineer for the Fitzroy River bridge. The contract was completed in February 1881 at an additional cost of £1,461 due to the difficulties experienced in building the bridge. The railway was opened for traffic between North Bundaberg and Moolboolaman on 19 July 1881. The bridge's aging plate girders and long timber spans caused restrictions on the use of heavy engines on the line and as early as 1916, no two attached PB15 or B15 class locomotives were permitted on the bridge at the same time. By 1958 two attached locomotives were allowed on the bridge at the same time if sanctioned by the District Superintendent and only at a speed not exceeding . By 1971 two attached diesel-hydraulic locomotives were allowed on the bridge at the same time provided the train was stopped before crossing and the speed did not exceed . The last operating section of the railway, from North Bundaberg to Gin Gin including the bridge, was closed to traffic on 25 January 1993.

Description

The bridge comprises two plate girder spans with timber longitudinals and timber approach spans including spans strengthened with strut and crown, other spans by

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), 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 ...

and tie rods. Metal girders are continuous over two spans and support cross-girders at lower flange level. These carry longitudinal timber stringers on which the rails rest.

Heritage listing

Splitters Creek Railway Bridge was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. A late 19th century timber trestle bridge, representative of a type once more widespread in Queensland, with riveted half-through continuous plate girder main spans which are the oldest extant of their type in Queensland.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Australian railway bridges, state=autocollapse Queensland Heritage Register Bundaberg Region Railway bridges in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register 1880 establishments in Australia Bridges completed in 1880