Woolooga Rail Bridge

Woolooga Rail Bridge
Woolooga Rail Bridge
Location Wide Bay Creek on the Theebine - Kilikivan railway line, Woolooga, Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates 26°03′28″S 152°22′47″E / 26.0577°S 152.3796°E / -26.0577; 152.3796Coordinates: 26°03′28″S 152°22′47″E / 26.0577°S 152.3796°E / -26.0577; 152.3796
Design period 1870s - 1890s (late 19th century)
Built 1884
Official name: Woolooga Rail Bridge
Type state heritage (built)
Designated 21 October 1992
Reference no. 600645
Significant period 1880s, 1930s (fabric)
Significant components pier/s (bridge)
Builders Owen McDermott & Co.
Location of Woolooga Rail Bridge in Queensland
Woolooga Rail Bridge (Australia)

Woolooga Rail Bridge was a heritage-listed railway bridge at Wide Bay Creek on the Theebine - Kilikivan railway line, Woolooga, Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1884 by Owen McDermott & Co. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992,[1]

History

Horse riders by the Woolooga Rail Bridge, circa 1912

The Woolooga Rail Bridge was built in 1884 and crosses Wide Bay Creek on the Maryborough to Kilkivan branch line.[1]

The Kilkivan branch was built while the Maryborough Railway was not connected to any other system. A short section to Dickabram on the bank of the Mary River was opened on 1 January 1886. The section to Kilkivan opened on 6 December 1886 after the completion of the major combined Dickabram rail-road bridge over the Mary River.[1]

The Kilkivan branch, built in the hope of stimulating gold and copper mining, was ultimately extended to serve the South Burnett. Besides a major bridge over the Mary River, the Kilkivan branch crossed Wide Bay Creek three times. Tenders were called for just 4 miles (6.4 km), and had to be called twice as the short length made the project unattractive to contractors. The work for the whole section to Kilkivan was let to MCDermott, Owen & Co in August 1884.[1]

In order to strengthen the bridge to permit C17 locomotives to operate, instead of just PB15 and B15 classes, the 100-foot (30 m) spans were divided in the 1933-35 period by inserting timber piers at the centre of each span.[1]

Description

The Woolooga Rail Bridge, Wide Bay No. 2 Crossing Bridge, at 25.14 kilometres (15.62 mi) comprised two 100-foot (30 m) lattice girder spans with steel cross girders and timber longitudinals supported on concrete piers with timber piers on a concrete base at the centre of each span.[1]

Heritage listing

Woolooga Rail Bridge was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria.[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

The Woolooga Rail Bridge was important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, in particular the development of the railway network from Maryborough and the development of gold and copper mining in the Kilkivan area.[1]

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The Woolooga Rail Bridge was an example of a lattice girder bridge dating from the 1880s still in use in the 21st century, although the spans had been halved by extra piers.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Woolooga Rail Bridge (entry 600645)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014).

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