The Einasleigh River Bridge is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), 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, whi ...

over the

Einasleigh River The Einasleigh River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. When combined with the Gilbert River, the river system is the largest river system in northern Australia. Course and features The Einasleigh River rises in the locality of L ...

on the

Gulf Developmental Road Gulf Developmental Road is an Australian highway linking the Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and Normanton, Queensland, Normanton regions in northern Queensland, Australia. It is the only sealed (Asphalt concrete, asphalt) road linking these two reg ...

, in the

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns, Queensland, Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stret ...

, Australia, located east of Georgetown and west of Mount Surprise. The bridge is part of the only sealed (

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

) road linking

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

and Normanton in the

Gulf Savannah The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also c ...

region. The new high set bridge was constructed to flood-proof the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...

. It replaced an existing low level bridge which was designed for inundation. The old bridge was flooded in every wet season. In 2009 it was under water for 40 days after the biggest flood on record. During flooding of the old Einasleigh River Bridge, most communities across the Gulf Shires were inaccessible by road and the emergency supplies had to be provided by helicopter. The bridge was built by the Etheridge Shire Council and was funded through the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

's Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program. It was opened on 20 January 2011 by

Simon Crean Simon Findlay Crean (26 February 1949 – 25 June 2023) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 2001 to 2003. He represented the seat of Hotham i ...

, the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government.

References

External links

Einasleigh River Bridge Infrastructure Development Presentation
Road bridges in Queensland Bridges completed in 2011 Buildings and structures in Far North Queensland Beam bridges in Australia 2011 establishments in Australia Concrete bridges in Australia Viaducts in Australia {{Queensland-struct-stub