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Angellala Rail Bridge

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Angellala Rail Bridge

Angellala Rail Bridge was a heritage-listed railway bridge on the Roma-Cunnamulla railway line over Angellala Creek in Sommariva in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from c. 1885 to 1994. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The bridge and the adjacent road bridge were destroyed by an explosion on 5 September 2014.

Plans for the crossing of Angellala Creek at 66 kilometres (41 mi) east of Charleville were prepared in 1885 with the construction of the western railway extension from Roma to Charleville. Part of the Western Railway Act assented to on 25 September 1875 was repealed by the Railway Reserves Amendment Act of 1879, and the money in the Western Railway Account and all funds from land alienation were paid into Consolidated Revenue of Queensland. Construction west from Roma proceeded through the 1880s and there were approaches to build a land grant railway, into western New South Wales and to Adelaide through the south-west by several syndicates.

However the Queensland Government undertook construction further west. The railway opened to East Mitchell in 1883, and after completion of the Maranoa River Bridge on 17 January 1885 into Mitchell itself. Further extensions took place to Dulbydilla on 24 August 1885, Morven on 1 March 1887 and opening through to Charleville on 1 March 1888.

Angellala railway station (26°24′48″S 146°53′13″E / 26.4132°S 146.8869°E / -26.4132; 146.8869 (Angellala railway station)) was named after the nearby creek. It opened as a station from 2 May 1910, and was also worked as a crossing loop. From 1929 until 1932 the station was worked unattended; however a station mistress was appointed from 1932 date until 1971. Angellala was a watering stop for locomotives, with the water tank situated at the Charleville end of the yard, and the hydrant at the Roma end.

The crossing of Angellala Creek posed several design problems for the bridge designers, as it was situated in a shallow valley and extensive flood plain. The bridge across the western crossing featured the longest timber trestle approach on a rail bridge in Queensland. Overall length of the structure was 2,080 feet (630 m). The main crossing of the creek features 7 x 36 feet (11 m) steel spans. The approach from the west was over 1,740 feet (530 m). It was designed in 1885 when Henry Charles Stanley was Chief Engineer.

Plans were prepared for the strengthening of the bridge for heavier C17 class locomotives in 1946 when the spans were halved by installation of intermediate columns. With upgrading for main line (90 long tons (91 t)) diesel-electric's to be used west of Roma, the main spans were strengthened with additional steel pillars in 1994.

The Angellala bridge was the sixth longest in Queensland. At 530 metres (1,740 ft), the western approach was the longest approach of any railway bridge in Queensland. The riveted and gusseted half-through continuous plate girder spans were the second oldest of their type in Queensland.

The Angellala railway bridge and the adjacent road bridge were destroyed by an explosion on 5 September 2014, when a road train carrying 52 tonnes (51 long tons; 57 short tons) of ammonium nitrate crashed on the road bridge and caught fire. The explosion was equivalent to 10-15 tonnes of TNT and was felt by residents of the town of Charleville, 30 kilometres (19 mi) away. The road bridge was rebuilt, but the railway bridge was not. There is a monument to the explosion, with interpretive signs, at the site.

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