The Inkerman Bridge was a railway bridge over the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

between McDesme and

Home Hill Home Hill is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Home Hill had a population of 2,876 people. At the delta of the Burdekin River, it is a sugarc ...

, both in the

Shire of Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. The shire covers an area of . It has e ...

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 in operation between 1913 and 1957 after which it was replaced by the

Burdekin Bridge The Burdekin Bridge (known as the Burdekin River Bridge or Silver Link) spans the Burdekin River between the towns of Ayr, Queensland, Ayr (locality of McDesme, Queensland, McDesme) to the north and Home Hill, Queensland, Home Hill to the sout ...

(also known as the Silver Link).

History

Queensland State Archives 6413 Burdekin River Bridge Flood Damage Repair NCL 29 October 1940

The Inkerman Bridge was built as part of the North Coast railway line along the Queensland coast that ultimately linked

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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 ...

by rail. Construction commenced in 1912 and the bridge officially opened on Monday 8 September 1913. The bridge was low-lying and the Burdekin River frequently flooded. As a result, the bridge was frequently closed due to water over the bridge or because the bridge was damaged by floods leading to months of closure while it was repaired. On 8 March 1945 a goods train was swept off the bridge in a sudden surge of flood water. Two people drowned, while four others survived by freeing the cattle on board and then "rode" down the river holding onto the steers until they were rescued downstream at various locations as far as Rita Island. The bridge went at least under water in that flood. The disaster renewed demands that a higher-level bridge be built. In 1947 a project commenced to build a high-level road-and-rail bridge to replace the Inkerman Bridge, but owing to the sandy soil without any rock to provide foundations for a higher bridge, it took ten years to design and construct the Burdekin Bridge which opened on 27 March 1957.

Remnants

Some remnants of the old bridge are still visible downstream (east) of the Burdekin Bridge.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/11/20/2424837.htm, title=Memories from the Burdekin Bridge, first=Winsome, last=Denyer, date=20 November 2008, publisher=

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113210533/https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/11/20/2424837.htm, archive-date=13 January 2021, url-status=live Railway bridges in Queensland Burdekin River Shire of Burdekin Former railway bridges in Australia