37 Burdekin Weir

13ks out of Charters Towers is the Burdekin Weir.

A lovely spot with big grassed area, BBQ`s, Tables, Playground for children and toliets.

We thought it well worth the trip. Water flowing over the weir looked lovely. We were able to wander down to the river below the weir and the boys (Graham & Tim) even got to wet a fishing line, not that they caught anything.

Desma and I sat at the top watching and soaking up the peacefulness. When our bottoms became numb we went for a wander to check the area out and talk to the cattle over the fence.

We really enjoyed our wandering around looking.

Below is an article from Trove about the weir which you may find interesting.

THE BURDEKIN WEIR

CHARTERS TOWERS WATER SUPPLY.

STORY OF ITS BUILDING.

(By "Aurelius")

Last year's very severe dry weather placed a heavy test on the water supplies of the various towns in. the State, and none of them came through it more satisfactorily than that of Charters Towers. The North, prior to February 13th., had had a most trying couple of years, and the Charters Towers area was perhaps harder fait than any other district. For months there was not a blade of grass, green or dry, on the gold- field, and the Burdekin River had for long stopped running. Water was a very scarce commodity, here as elsewhere, but while Townsville, amongst other places had to forbid the use of water for gardening pur- poses, the Charters Towers water authority was able to maintain the supply to its consumers without contemplation of a restriction. The demands on the supply were, as a consequence of the dry weather, considerably heavier than usual, tanks having been early emptied, and for a lengthy period, starving stock, estimated at one thousand head had daily been watering at the city troughs. The monthly pumpage grew until, in December, it had reached almost 20,000,000 gallons, yet the water authority was so well placed, in the way of supply, that another twelve months drought would hardly have necessitated a curtailment. And yet, had there been no weir across the Burdekin, disaster must surely have overtaken the city months before the rain

came.  

The water supply of Charters   Towers is drawn from the Burdekin, at a spot about eight miles al-   most due north of the town. There,   twenty two years ago, a big concrete   wall was thrown across the river, and, from that time to this, no ln- spectator has so much as cast an inquisitive eye on a leaky tap. The building of this huge dam across the river was undertaken in June 1902. That was the year of record drought. The

Water Board, at that time was sorely tried to find enough Water to supply the demands ot the town, with its many mines and mills consuming hundreds of thousands of gallons daily. The river had long since stopped flowing, and the wells that had been sunk in its bed could not keep up to the pumps, and considerable trenching was found necessary. In vain they hoped on for rain, but the rain persisted in its entire absence. The possibility of the recurrence of such an appalling position presented itself, and was viewed with the gravest concern. So after much anxious consideration, it was decided that provision to avoid it for all time must be made. There was but one way to do this, and that was to dam the Burdekin. It was estimated the work would entail an expenditure of £10,000, and application was made to the Works Department for a loan of that amount. The Department hesitated, and in the best red tape style, asked for all manner of reports and information. The unfortunate gold fielders the while conserving the  

last couple of rims or water in their cottage tanks, and wishing devoutly that Cabinet Ministers could be induced, for a time, to forsake their comfortably furnished homes and well filled tanks, and live a month or two on short commons, and in apprehension of a complete water starvation. The citizens, however, tired of the Department's evasive replies and requests, and determined, if possible, to pay the cost of erecting the weir out of revenue. The Hon. E. D. Miles, one of the mining magnates of the time, generously offered to advance the first £6,000. His offer was accepted, and work was commenced with as little delay as possible. Later a smaller amount was made available by the Government, and this, together with Mr. Miles' £6,000, was repaid out of revenue.

The work of supervising the building of the great concrete wall was entrusted to Mr. Hood, a Southern engineer, who after seeing the work through its first few arduous months, relinquished the position, and returned south. He was succeeded by Mr. Elliott Bolland, who remained in charge until the completion of the job. When Mr. Hood took charge, a big staff was at once employed and the work of excavation for a foundation was hurriedly commenced. At the spot where it was intended the weir should cross the river, there was a rocky bar for the greater portion of the way. It was decided the weir should be built on the top edge of this bar, and for the full width of the river, some 600 yards, the bed was dug out to a depth of 8 feet, and there, on the solid bottom, the foundations were laid, 24 feet In width. On top of them the wall was built, narrowing upwards on the outer side, in regular steps, until at the surface the wall was but 3 feet wide, Its height from the bottom on the inside being 24 feet. This gave a water carrying depth of 16 feet.

The building of this rectangular shaped wall, with its base 24 feet long, and its height 24 feet, was a tremendous task, and there was always the danger that the long overdue and anxiously awaited rain would fall, and the river rise, with the work incomplete. For a time 160 men were engaged in the work, and in all 3,000 barrels of Portland cement were used. In December 1902, the weir was almost finished, Indeed the only remaining work was the plastering, and the fitting of a flood gate, one of which had al- ready been placed In position. A number of the men had been put off and a week or two would have seen finality reached.

One of the men who worked on the wall, from its start to the finish, was Mr. George Johnson, who, till recently was the Curator of that attractive

city garden In Charters Towers, Lissner Park, and he tells an interesting story of the work. The job, he says, was almost done. The last of the plastering was in hand, and the second flood gate was being fitted. Late one evening, there came a horseman, galloping, from up the river, who, on reining up, shouted "She's coming down. Get all your tools and gear out.'' Those present were astonished at the news. There had been no rain at the Weir, but heavy storms had fallen higher up. Mr. Johnson asked, "Where did you leave it?" The courier replied, 'At the Rocks. She's four feet high, in a wall, and she's as black as porter."

Mr. Johnson formed the opinion that the water would be down through the night, and there was little chance of removing much of the gear. A temporary   flood gate, with pine frames, was fitted in the place of the iron one that was being prepared, and the gear was left in the bed of the river. The water came down soon after midnight, a black, horrid looking mass, which quickly filled the weir, and it has not

since been empty. In the Intervening years, much silt has driven down against the inner side of the wall, and it still securely covers over many trucks of tools and rails and other material being use in the construction work. The temporary pine framed flood gate is there to this day.    

To all outward appearances the Weir is as sound to-day as when first built. It banks up the Burdekin for a distance of nearly seven miles, and imprisons approximately 400,000,000 gallons of water, enough to fully supply Charters Towers for a totally dry period of two years after the water has ceased flowing over the wall, and this latter is known only in a pro longed dry spell. The weir is a close preserve for game, and thousands of waterfowl of every description are continually to be found on it. Many big floods have come down the river

in the last twenty-two years and this

long concrete wall has emerged successfully from each. In a high flood the site of the rail is distinguishable only by a slight ripple, but immediately below it, a mass of angry turbulent water tells of the big fall below.

The accompanying pictures, which are from photographs by Mr. Allan Mitchell, show the construction of the wall, and the river slightly over summer level.

The actual cost of building the weir was between £7000 and £8000, and another £2000 or £3000 was spent, during the course of its erection, in trenching the river, both above and below, to keep the pumps, situated nearly three-quarters of a mile lower down the river, supplied. While the construction was in progress a bridge was thrown across the river on trestles, and on this bridge tram rails were laid for the purpose of carrying the sand and cement used in making the concrete. Between the rails was   a plank, eighteen inches in width, and along this line the loaded trucks   were hauled by horses, which walked   the plank. Four or five horses were   killed by falling from the trestle in the carrying out of this work, but   eventually two plough horses, used to walking a furrow, were secured, and they successfully saw the work through, one working the day shift, the other the night shift One of those animals was owned by Mr. Johnson. He was a sturdy plough horse, who answered obediently any commands addressed to him as Paddy. His weir work done, Paddy eventually found himself in the ownership of the City Council, and for many years he served his new masters faithfully and well. Then, growing old, he was put on the easy list, and found comfort in the less arduous duties expected of a horse that works in Lissner Park. There he formed a strange association with an emu, a relationship which was to have a tragic ending. Day and night these two were close companions. When, at times, Paddy was taken outside the Park en- closure, the emu would follow slavishly to the gates, and there await his return., But there came a day when Paddy made his last trip out. He had reached the great age of 28 years, and was found dead one day by the caretaker. The emu remained by him all night, and in the morning when Paddy's remains were hitched to two other equine servants of the Council and dragged out, it followed to the gates in semi-comprehending mien. As the gates swung to, and barred its further progress, it walked along inside the fence, some seventy or eighty yards, where the enclosure cornered. There it stamped and performed in a manner expressive of dis- approval of the unceremonious separation from its mate, and every means   adopted to try and shift it was fruit less. For a fortnight the bird remained in that corner, refusing the food and water brought to it by the caretaker, and there it died. Its broken soul no doubt going out to Elysian fields to strut more proudly by that of Paddy than it had ever done within the wire netting confines of Lissner Park.