Lamington Bridge is a heritage-listed

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 Mary River from Gympie Road, Tinana to Ferry Street, Maryborough, both in the

Fraser Coast Region The Fraser Coast 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 twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains K'gari. ...

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 designed by

Alfred Barton Brady Alfred Barton Brady (1856–1932) was an engineer and architect in Queensland, Australia. He was one of Queensland's most important early engineers and was particularly known for his bridge design. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect and ma ...

and built from to 1970 by McArdle & Thompson. 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. The bridge is one of the earliest concrete bridges in Australia. As it replaced a high set timber bridge which was demolished during the disastrous floods of 1893, the present bridge is a low level bridge designed for inundation, as it is less likely to be damaged by floating debris during floods. It was opened to traffic on 30 October 1896 and was named in honour of Lord Lamington,

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

. The bridge is inundated with water once the river level reaches 5.5metres. This most recently happened during the March 2025 flood.

History

The Lamington Bridge, which crosses the Mary River from Tinana to Maryborough, was built to the design of AB Brady and opened in 1896. It replaced an earlier highset timber bridge constructed in 1874 and is one of Australia's oldest concrete bridges. The

port of Maryborough The Port of Maryborough, Queensland, was opened in 1847 and in 1859 it was declared a port of entry, meaning that overseas and intercolonial vessels could arrive and depart direct, although there appears to have been considerable uncertainty ...

was established in the late 1840s to supply sheep stations on the

Burnett River The Burnett River is a river in the Wide Bay–Burnett and Central Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Course and features The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east ...

and provide an outlet for their wool. It was a port of entry and during the 1860s and 1870s Maryborough flourished as the principal port of the nearby

Gympie goldfield During the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered. Gold had been found several times before, but the colonial government of Ne ...

and as an outlet for timber and sugar. The establishment of manufacturing plants and primary industries sustained its growth as a major regional centre. The first bridge over the Mary River was a timber high-set bridge constructed in 1874, upstream from the current bridge. During the disastrous floods of 1893, this bridge was partially demolished, cutting off the important road that linked Gympie to the port. The new bridge was designed by Alfred Barton Brady. Brady was born and trained in England, designed many notable bridges and was one of Queensland's most important early engineers. He served the Queensland Government for 37 years from 1885, at first with the Railways Department, then from 1889 with the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

, and then as the

Queensland Government Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland, Australia with responsibility for the design of government buildings in Queensland. It was formerly known as the Queensland Colonial Architect. The position ...

and engineer for bridges from 1892. Although Brady designed many important and handsome public buildings, his forte was bridge design. As well as the Lamington Bridge, Brady was responsible for the design of the Gairloch Bridge over the

Herbert River The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert Herbert, Robert George Wyndham Herbert, th ...

at Ingham (1889–1890); the Granville Bridge in Maryborough (1889–1890); the

Burnett Bridge Burnett Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge crossing the Burnett River from Quay Street, Bundaberg Central to Perry Street, Bundaberg North in Bundaberg, Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Alfred Barton Brady and ...

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

(1890–1900) and the Victoria Bridge in

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 ...

(1893–1997). Of the many bridges he designed, Lamington Bridge is his most technically innovative work. In discussing his very early choice of concrete for the Lamington Bridge, Brady explained that "the Author was induced to recommend a concrete bridge, as it ensures a structure of very great strength, almost everlasting in character, and the annual expenditure in maintenance is consequently reduced to a minimum". The bridge was designed as a low level bridge, which was thought to be much safer during floods where floating debris causes much damage to high set bridges. Brady wrote a detailed account of the design and construction of Lamington Bridge in a paper he presented to the Institute of Engineers in 1900. The bridge was designed in 1893 and tenders were called for the project in September 1894. The successful tenderers were Messrs AcArdle and Thompson of Brisbane. Construction followed and the completed structure cost about . The bridge was opened to traffic on 30 October 1896 by David Hay Dalrymple, MLA, Minister for Public Works. The bridge was named in honour of Baron Lamington KCMG,

. Lamington Bridge was widened in 1970 but the original handrails were retained and reused.

Description

Lamington Bridge is a low level bridge, designed for inundation, and crosses the Mary River immediately south of the city of Maryborough between Ferry Street in Maryborough and Gympie Road in Tinana. It is a reinforced concrete structure comprising eleven spans of clear or centre to centre of piers. The bridge is reinforced on both faces with eleven rails, which were erected as frames and are bolted to the

pier A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

tops underneath the concrete and spliced with

fishplate A fishplate joins two lengths of track. A fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal or composites connecting plate used to bolt the ends of two rails into a continuous track. The name is derived from ''fish'', a wooden reinforcement of a "b ...

The bridge has a solid deck, wide, with circular segmental

soffit A soffit is an exterior architectural feature, generally the horizontal, aloft underside of the roof edge. Its archetypal form, sometimes incorporating or implying the projection of rafters or trusses over the exterior of supporting walls, is t ...

and a depth at the centre of the roadway varying in each span from . The roadway camber is and there is an integral

kerb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

at each side. The reinforcement consists of railway rails deep, with long lower flanges. There are thirteen such rails running longitudinally in each face at centre, with clear cover of about . The top and bottom rails are formed into eleven frames, each bolted to the pier top. The top member is continuous over the length of the bridge, achieved by fishplated connections.

Heritage listing

The Lamington Bridge was listed on the former

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

in 1986. It was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Lamington Bridge, opened in 1896, is important in illustrating the development of bridge design in Queensland and the importance of Maryborough as a port and outlet for the

in the late 19th century. The place is important in demonstrating a high degree of creative or technical achievement at a particular period. The Lamington bridge has international importance as one of the first concrete girder bridges based on the Wuntsch system. It is technologically innovative as one of the earliest concrete bridges in Australia. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The bridge is important as the most significant example of the work of Alfred Barton Brady who, during 37 years of work for several departments of the Queensland government, made a major contribution to the development of the state in both architectural and engineering design.

Engineering heritage award

The bridge received a Historic Engineering Marker from

Engineers Australia Engineers Australia (EA), known formally as the Institution of Engineers, Australia, is an Australian professional body and Non-profit organization, not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to advance the science and practice of engineerin ...

as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Lamington Bridge Road bridges in Queensland Bridges completed in 1896 Buildings and structures in Maryborough, Queensland Arch bridges in Australia Concrete bridges in Australia Queensland Heritage Register Fraser Coast Local Heritage Register Queensland places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Mary River (Queensland) 1896 establishments in Australia Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers