Burdekin

Burdekin

Bridge, known as the Silver Link spans the Burdekin River providing a floodproof link between Ayr and Home Hill. With a length of 1097 metres, it is one of the longest multi-span bridges in Australia and longer than Sydney's Harbour Bridge and Brisbane's Story Bridge. It is the only bridge in Australia built without a firm foothold in bedrock. The bridge rests on eleven hollow, concrete caissons sunk into the river bed to a depth of about 30 metres. Each weighs about 4,000 tons. 

Construction of an earlier rail bridge (the Inkerman Bridge) began in 1912, was plagued by stoppages and was officially opened on September 8, 1913. A low-level traffic-bridge was gazetted in 1929 after pressure from Burdekin residents and constructed at the Bowen Crossing but both were regularly out of action because of the wet season flooding.

Dam, officially the Burdekin falls dam, is one of the largest dams in Queensland. Work on the project started in 1984 and the dam was completed in 1987 to form what is known as Lake Dalrymple, which covers an area of 22,400 hectares and ponds water 50 kilometres up the Burdekin River. The storage ensures a supply of water to the Lower Burdekin for crops and for maintenance of the water supply in the aquifers. The design of the dam allows for increases in storage capacity and future hydro-electric generation. It supplies water to the Burdekin Irrigation Area (see below).

Electorate centred on Ayr and Home Hill formed in 1949 by combining portions of the former electorates of Bowen and Mundingburra.

Irrigation Area established on the lower Burdekin floodplain in the early 1950s. Harnessing the Burdekin had been proposed as early as 1889, with proposals for a dam at the gorge section of the river falls. A weir at the gorge completed in 1953 provided water for 7,500 hectares of soldier settlement farms at Dalbeg, Millaroo and Clare using water from the Gorge Weir and Blue Valley Weir. In the 1970s Eungella Dam, on the Broken River behind Mackay, was added to the scheme. Water is also drawn from the Haughton River. Pumping stations are located on the Burdekin River, within the Clare Weir storage, to divert water to the Haughton, Elliot and Barratta Main Channels. The Burdekin’s horticultural sector produces out-of-season winter vegetables such as capsicums, eggplant, rockmelons, squash, pumpkins, watermelons and sweet corn as well as mangoes and sugar cane, the district's long term staple.

River, originally named Wickham River by Captain Wickham during exploration of the northern coastline in the early 1840s. Leichhardt visited the area in 1845 and renamed the river after Ann Burdekin, the wife of Thomas Burdekin of Sydney, who had assisted him with his expedition. The Burdekin rises on the western slope of the Seaview Range and flows into the sea at Upstart Bay, draining an area of about 130,000 square kilometres. Major tributaries include the Clarke, Suttor, Basalt, Bowen, Belyando and Cape rivers. The river has the fourth-largest watershed of any system in Australia and is also the fourth-largest river in Australia by volume of flow, but the flow is erratic due to the extreme variability of rainfall throughout the basin.

Shire south-east of Townsville, originally the Ayr local government division (1888-1903), then Ayr Shire until it was renamed in 1976. The Jarvisfield and Inkerman pastoral runs came under land selection in the early 1880s, and the land was occupied for sugar growing. Brandon and Ayr were established in 1882, and numerous sugar mills erected. Most failed after a few seasons but Kalamia (1884) near Ayr and Pioneer (1884) near Brandon survived. Dry spells and drought restricted the sugar industry until John Drysdale used spears to extract water from the water table beneath the delta. Wind pumps and electric pumps powered from local electricity utilities drew water to the farm distribution channels while flood waters replenished the aquifers. The Inkerman land repurchase led to the establishment of the town of Home Hill and Inkerman mill (1914) and a similar repurchase on the Haughton led to the town of Giru and Invicta Mill (1921) in the north of the shire.


© Ian Hughes 2013