Burdekin (Silver Link)
Although the Inkerman rail bridge across the Burdekin River opened in September 1913 and a road bridge was built in the early 1930s, the river's flood-prone lower reaches meant traffic on both structures was frequently disrupted.
Construction of a new high-level bridge to link Ayr and Home Hill, carrying road traffic on the Bruce Highway and reducing disruptions to services on the North Coast Railway Line — flood-prone sections of the line between Ayr and Townsville continued to cut services until well into the 1970s — began in April 1947.
The 1,103 metre Bridge, completed in 1957 for $6 million, is one Australia's longest multi-span bridges and the only bridge in the country to be built on sand. The absence of rock in the riverbed forced the construction team to sink eleven hollow concrete caissons to depths of around 30 metres.
As the caissons — weighing about 4,000 tons, measuring 17 metres across the top, parallel to the stream, and varying in width — were sunk into the riverbed, steel cutting edges helped the process. The caisson's weight did the rest.
Remnants of the old Inkerman Bridge, which was just above the river bed, can be seen immediately downstream of the present bridge.
