{"id":119913,"date":"2015-09-10T01:06:57","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T15:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=119913"},"modified":"2020-11-17T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T01:34:11","slug":"historic-bridge-gets-health-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/09\/10\/historic-bridge-gets-health-check\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Bridge Gets Health Check"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arthur Nettelfield and Greg Griffiths from the SBRC’s Natural Resources and Parks department inspecting the Tingoora railway bridge on Wednesday<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 10, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can Tingoora’s historic wooden railway bridge be converted into a Rail Trail pedestrian bridge? The answer should be known by the end of October.<\/p>\n

A recent report to the South Burnett Regional Council by consultant Dr Dan Tingley says the bridge is in “fair condition” right now, and can be restored to good condition with a bit of work.<\/p>\n

But Natural Resources and Parks manager Greg Griffiths is reserving his final opinion until he receives quotes on the full cost of the job, which would include building a pedestrian walkway and safety handrails over the top of the structure.<\/p>\n

He hopes to have these within two months.<\/p>\n

Dr Tingley recently carried out a full engineering inspection of the bridge.<\/p>\n

It involved using moisture meters to identify how high the moisture content was in the timbers; taking core samples to detect if there was any internal decay; and sending sonic pulses through the timbers to measure their strength.<\/p>\n

He found that all things considered, the bridge is in reasonable shape and should be capable of being turned into a Rail Trail pedestrian bridge.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Greg Griffiths and Arthur Nettelfield, from Council’s Natural Resources Department, visited the bridge to inspect some of the flaws Dr Tingley identified in his report.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I’d like to think we could make this a pedestrian bridge,” Greg said.<\/p>\n

“Part of the attraction of Rail Trails for a lot of people are the historic aspects, and the Tingoora bridge is the longest surviving wooden rail bridge in the South Burnett.<\/p>\n

“It’s also very visible from the highway, so it would be a great advertisement for the Rail Trail. In fact, I think it could become a bit of a regional icon.”<\/p>\n

However – like engineers everywhere – he intends to keep his powder dry until he has all the facts before coming to a final opinion.<\/p>\n

“We have to work within our budget using the money the State Government has given us,” Greg said.<\/p>\n

“If restoring and converting this bridge would put us over budget, we’ll just have to create a route around it and leave it for now.<\/p>\n

“I think that would be a pity but it’s what we’ll do if the numbers don’t add up.”<\/p>\n

Greg is more confident about the Trail’s other bridges, nearly all of which have their original concrete footings intact.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said these should be easy and inexpensive to convert to pedestrian bridges.<\/p>\n

“Railway bridges have to take loads of hundreds of tonnes, so a pedestrian bridge is pretty easy to build by comparison,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Another plus is that these bridges have withstood everything nature has thrown at them since they were built, so we expect they’ll be low-maintenance in the future.”<\/p>\n

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Arthur and Greg share a joke while they inspect the bridge’s supports; some sections may need to be injected with special compounds to remedy deterioration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tingoora is the longest surviving wooden railway bridge in the South Burnett<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Extensive testing was carried out on every part of the bridge’s structure<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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At present the top of the bridge is closed off; a wooden pedestrian walkway with safety handrails will be built along the top if the bridge is converted for Rail Trail use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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