Capricorn Highway

Capricorn Highway
Basic data
Operator:	Dept. of Transport and Main Roads
Start of the street:	Bruce Highway Fairy Bower ( Rockhampton ) ( QLD ) ( 23 ° 25 ′  S , 150 ° 30 ′  E )
End of street:	Landsborough Highway Barcaldine ( QLD ) ( 23 ° 33 ′  S , 145 ° 17 ′  E )
Overall length:	567 km
States :	Queensland

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Capricorn Highway is a trunk road in the east of the Australian state of Queensland . It is about 567 km long, runs in an east-west direction and connects the Bruce Highway in Rockhampton on the east coast of Queensland with the Landsborough Highway in Barcaldine in the center of the country. The highway runs along its entire length parallel to the Tropic of Capricorn (ger .: Tropic of Capricorn ), after which it was named.

history

The Capricorn Highway owes its creation to the construction of the Great Northern Railway . This railway line was built from Rockhampton to the west. Construction began in Rockhampton around 1865, and Longreach was reached in 1892 and Winton in 1899 as the terminus of the railway line. Temporary places were built along the railway line to provide accommodation and supplies for the workers on the railway line. Many of these places were dissolved again after a few years, but some remained inhabited and are still important places along the railway line today.

Due to these conditions, in addition to the railway line, there were always routes for horse-drawn vehicles between the villages. These roads were gradually expanded and today form the Capricorn Highway, which always runs near the railway line and crosses it several times.

course

In Rockhampton, the Capricorn Highway branches off the Bruce Highway (NA1) to the east-southeast. Shortly after the '' Westwood '' settlement the Leichhardt Highway (A5) joins from the south. Like the railway line, the Capricorn Highway crosses the Dawson River at Duaringa and continues on its way east. After overcoming the Great Dividing Range and crossing the Comet River , he reaches the town of Emerald , where the Gregory Highway (A7) crosses. Shortly after the Capricorn Highway crosses the Belyando River , it reaches the small town of Alpha . Between Alpha and the end of the road in Barcaldine, the highway still runs over the Alice River . In Barcaldine it also meets Landsborough Highway (NA2).

The highest point on the highway is at 559 m, the lowest at 6 m.

source

• Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing. Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 10 + 11

Individual evidence

1. ↑ maps.bonzle.com - Capricorn Highway ( Memento from June 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved from the Wayback Machine on May 30, 2013.