January 25, 2018
An $8 million project upgrading the Heritage-listed Dickabram Bridge – part of the former Kingaroy-Theebine rail line – will enter a new phase next month.
The bridge will be closed from February 5 to November 30 to allow RoadTek to continue work replacing timber girders, decking, piles and other pieces of the structure.
The project also includes repainting steel with a coating to protect the bridge from rust.
Dickabram Bridge crosses the Mary River at Miva, north of Gympie.
It was built by McDermott and Owen and was commissioned on June 1, 1886.
It is the oldest combined road and rail crossing left in Queensland and also the oldest surviving complete steel truss bridge in the State.
Its poor condition was a major reason put forward at the time of the closure of the Kingaroy-Theebine rail link, which had been mothballed for several years before being officially closed on Christmas Eve 2010.
This rail link has now been identified by Moreton Resources as a possible corridor for the transport of export coal from its proposed Kingaroy open cut coal mine.
Department of Transport and Main Roads information states that a significant program of maintenance and rehabilitation works was required to ensure the bridge could remain open and be capable of handling future traffic demand.
However, it says the existing 15 tonne load limit will remain after the rehabilitation works are completed.
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