Degilbo to Mundubbera Railway Bridges
This collection of 12 bridges from Deep Creek (Chowey) to Slab Creek and to Philpott Creek featured quite different designs.
Since maintenance of the line has ceased, the steady decline of these structures has continued, and is expected to continue. The large flood in the area in 2013 removed some centre spans of the Burnett River Bridge and completely destroyed the superstructure of the Reids Creek truss bridge.
The development of Queensland as a State in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was characterised by the construction of rail lines, firstly in the southeast of the State from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp (later named Grandchester) in the 1860s and later from Brisbane, Rockhampton and Townsville into the agricultural and mining areas in the hinterlands of those towns. The final rail link-up of the coastal towns from Brisbane to Cairns was effected in 1923. While rail construction eased in the mid- twentieth century, it has seen a resurgence in the latter years of that century, a resurgence fuelled by the demands of the large mining areas and which continues today.
Queensland had been opened up for free settlement in 1839. The Darling Downs was being settled by 1840. The grazing property, Tarameo station, was established by 1842 in the Nanango district and also C.R. Haly had established Taabinga station by the same year. Simon Scott, the owner of Tarameo and two others sought for sheep country further north in that same year.
In November 1842, Henry Stuart Russell searched for sheep country with two companions, William Orton and an Aborigine named Jemmy and reached the Burnett watershed. He thought a stream he discovered was the headwaters of the River Boyne, discovered earlier by John Oxley, and which enters the sea at Gladstone, but in 1847 surveyor James Charles Burnett traced the river which bears his name to where it flows into Hervey Bay at Bundaberg. Interestingly, the name Boyne was retained for the tributary of the Burnett River discovered by Russell, so there are 2 streams named River Boyne in southern Queensland. Russell made his way into the Gayndah district early in 1843. He selected Burrandowan station 30 miles west of Kingaroy early in 1843.
In summary, the early European exploration of this area was carried out by persons seeking grazing lands, rather than by dedicated explorers, and land was fairly rapidly taken up for grazing.
By 1860, talks were being held regarding the possibility of constructing a tramway/railway from the Port of Maryborough to the Central Burnett Districts; nothing came of those discussions. The coastal railway arrived in Maryborough from Gympie in August 1881, and this gave rise to renewed interest in a rail line to serve the Burnett District.
Work commenced on the line from Mungar in 1889 and proceeded until it reached Degilbo, 74km west of Mungar in 1893. The depression of the early 1890s resulted in further construction being halted and Degilbo was the terminus of the line until work resumed in 1903 when surveyor George Phillips commenced surveys of possible routes for extension of the rail line from Degilbo to Gayndah, His report of 1904 was accepted as to the route of the line and work commenced almost immediately. Chowey Bridge was completed by December 1905 and the Burnett River Bridge early in 1906 and the railway reached Gayndah on 16th December 1907.
On 7th July 1911, construction commenced on the extension to Mundubbera and the railway arrived there on 3rd February 1914.
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Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | Engineering Heritage Marker (EHM) |
| Award Date | October 2016 |
| Heritage Significance | |
| Nomination Document | Available here. |
| Ceremony Booklet Ceremony Report |
Available here. |
| Plaque/Interpretation Panel Image | Available here. |
References:
Degilbo to Mundubbera - Drawings of Railway Bridges
