Mount Lawless is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

North Burnett Region The North Burnett Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia in the northern catchment of the Burnett River. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the ear ...

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. In the , Mount Lawless had a population of 9 people.

Geography

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 ...

forms most of the eastern boundary. It drains a basin covering which is 1.9% of the total area of Queensland. Despite its name, the mountain Mount Lawless is in the far south-east of the neighbouring locality of Yenda to the north. The nearest large town is

Gayndah Gayndah () is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the North Burnett Region. In the , the locality of Gayndah had a population of 1,949 p ...

which is distant in a direct line or by road. The land use is predominantly

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

on native vegetation with some crop growing near the river.

History

The area had started growing small crops, citrus orchards, grain and dairy cattle by 1905. The Gayndah area is still known for these primary industries, with irrigation, today. At the time the Burnett River Bridge was being built (1906-7), the site selected was "said to possess considerable scenic beauty. The exact spot is on a basalt crossing, on either side of which are large lagoons, in which fish and fowl abound." An area of was reserved for township purposes at Mount Lawless, near Gayndah in 1909. The final stage of the

Mungar Junction to Monto railway line The Mungar Junction to Monto railway line is a railway in Queensland, Australia. Progressively opened in eleven stages between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast railway line, Queensland, North Coast line at Mungar railway ...

opened from Wetherton to Gayndah via Mount Lawless on 16 December 1907 without any ceremony. It was officially opened in April 1908 by the Queensland Minister for Railways George Kerr. The locality was served by two railway stations, both now abandoned: * Mount Lawless railway station () * Dappil railway station () The last train on the railway line was in 2008 and in 2012 it was announced the line was officially closed.

Floods

The Burnett River Bridge is also known as the Mt. Lawless railway bridge and is not to be confused with the

Burnett Railway Bridge Burnett Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge crossing the Burnett River in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. The bridge is located between Bundaberg Central and Bundaberg North to the west of Burnett Road Bridge. History The B ...

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 ...

. This low-level railway

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 ...

was built over the

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

in the

at Mount Lawless during 1906/1907. The bridge

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

said at the time that it was "the longest bridge of its kind in Queensland ... and he felt sure that it would resist every pressure likely to be met with." The bridge was flooded in 1911, 1918, 1921, 1928, 1929, 1934, 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1956. It suffered major damage in the 1947 floods when nine spans () of the length of the bridge were washed away. The damage occurred from 11 February 1947 and the bridge was repaired and restricted services resumed six weeks later. The

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

Irrigation and Water Supply Commission monitored a gauging station (No. 279) at the Mount Lawless railway bridge, one of several along the Burnett River and its tributaries. The construction of the Jones Weir at

Mundubbera Mundubbera ( ) is a rural town and a locality in the North Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Mundubbera had a population of 1,120 people. Mundubbera is the self-proclaimed "Citrus Capital of Queensland", although ...

, upstream from Mount Lawless, commenced in April 1947. It was officially opened on Saturday 23 June 1951. The weir is one of the oldest concrete weirs commissioned in Queensland. Construction slowed between December 1948 and March 1949 due to flooding. Other upstream weirs followed. The 2013 floods again removed the centre spans of the bridge, despite earlier flood protection measures.

Demographics

In the , Mount Lawless had a population of 12 people. In the , Mount Lawless had a population of 9 people.

Heritage listing

The Official Register of Engineering Heritage Markers listed * '' Degilbo-Mundubbera Railway Bridges'' in October 2016. A total of 12 bridges that are situated on the

, including the Burnett River Bridge, are recognized with one Engineering Heritage Marker representing the "best example of a collection of historic railway bridges in Australia".

Education

There are no schools in Mount Lawless. The nearest government primary school is Gayndah State School in Gayndah to the south. The nearest government secondary school is Burnett State College, also in Gayndah.

References

{{North Burnett Region North Burnett Region Localities in Queensland