Lamington Bridge

The Lamington Bridge was Australia’s first large reinforced concrete road bridge. It was designed by Alfred Barton Brady, who was the Queensland Government Architect at the time of the bridge’s construction in 1896. The bridge comprises eleven 15.2m spans over a length totalling 187m. Brady was appointed Engineer for Bridges in 1899 and was later honoured by the Institution of Civil Engineers in London for this bridge design. The design was born out of necessity. The earlier high level timber bridge was washed away in the 1893 floods, cutting the road to Gympie. Brady built a low level concrete bridge which allowed flood waters and debris to flow over the bridge. Contractors were Messrs McArdle and Thompson of Brisbane, built at a total cost of 25,000 pounds. When the bridge opened on 30 October 1896, it was named in honour of Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. The bridge was widened in 1970, but its original handrails were retained and reused.