Bridges

The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, or BVRT, is an off-road adventure trail that follows the disused Brisbane Valley rail line from Wulkuraka, west of Ipswich, to Yarraman, west of Kilcoy. The railway line was built progressively from 1884 to 1913 and operated as a freight and passenger railway until 1991, when the line was decommissioned. The BVRT today is a 161 km long recreational trail with many historic railway features remaining providing users with an opportunity to experience the diverse rural landscape of the Brisbane Valley while passing through some of Queensland's most unique country towns.

The BVRT Crossing Improvements Project aims to increase rideability and improve all season end-to-end accessibility for trail users including walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The project involves the rehabilitation of multiple existing timber bridges that have been identified for repurposing as multiuse active transport structures. The project includes crossings over Coal Creek, Cooragook Creek, Black Snake Gully, Cooyar Creek, Chasewater Gully and Sandy Creek.

A key priority for the project is to provide a robust design that maintains as much of the existing original timber as possible while retaining the visual amenity and heritage value of the structures. The paper reviews some of the technical challenges associated with the design including reuse of old timber and the resilience of timber bridges during flood events.