Springbrook Road and Associated Infrastructure

Lack of access delayed settlement of the Springbrook Plateau prior to 1906. However, once land was advertised for selection the government was required to provide a road and two local selectors, Hardy and Trapp, blazed a track from Mudgeeraba by following Little Nerang Creek. By the 1920s a new road was surveyed to the mountain. A Swiss engineer, Mr Juries, was chosen because of his experience with mountainous country. The road was built in stages by contractor C J Hicks from 1925. The Main Roads Board managed the project. The terrain necessitated a gradient of 1 in 12 and in parts, 1 in 10 and was thought to be the first road in Queensland to be built with such a steep gradient. The section between Neranwood and Wunburra proved the most difficult, the six kilometres of backbreaking roadwork not being completed until 1928. Other unusual features are the curved timber trestle bridges in some of the tight corners. When the road was opened, a toll was payable for each journey. The roadside water trough on the Wunburra Range section is a reminder of the days when the road was used by horse and bullock teams.