53-821: Sheahan Bridge is a dual carriageway bridge over the Murrumbidgee River on the Hume Highway in Gundagai , New South Wales . It is the third longest bridge in New South Wales after the Macleay Valley Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge , which at 1.149 km (0.714 mi) is only slightly longer than the Sheahan Bridge's 1.141 km (0.709 mi). The now northbound bridge was built by Transbridge in 1977 to replace
106-540: A European heritage conservation zone and rural leases. The mainstream of the river system flows for 900 kilometres (560 mi). The river's headwaters arise from the wet heath and bog at the foot of Peppercorn Hill situated along Long Plain which is within the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains ; and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Kiandra . From its headwaters it flows to its confluence with
159-500: A climate which favoured the formation of glaciers , evidence of which can still be seen today. Cirques moraines , tarn lakes , roche moutonnées and other glacial features can all be seen in the area. Lake Cootapatamba , which was formed by an ice spilling from Mount Kosciuszko's southern flank, is the highest lake on the Australian mainland. Lake Albina, Club Lake, Blue Lake , and Hedley Tarn also have glacial origins. There
212-475: A drought that ranks as one of the worst in 103 years of official Australian weather records. Fires are a natural feature of the park's ecosystem. In November 2004, a committee "The Snowy Mountains Bushfire Recovery Taskforce" was set up by the NSW State Premier's Department to help residents in the region recover from the fires. The Taskforce commissioned Louise Darmody from Sound Memories to produce
265-579: A major skifield in NSW came with the development of Mount Blue Cow in the 1980s. In 1987 the Swiss designed Skitube Alpine Railway opened to deliver skiers from Bullocks Flat , on the Alpine Way , to Perisher Valley and to Blue Cow, which also opened in 1987. The operators of Blue Cow purchased Guthega in 1991, and the new combined resort later merged with Perisher-Smiggins to become the largest ski resort in
318-497: A name used by Indigenous Australians : Here we may remark on the tenacity with which the Murrumbidgee River long eluded the eye of the white man. It is scarcely probable that Meehan and Hume, who on this occasion were within comparatively easy reach of the head waters, could have seen a new inland river at that time without mentioning the fact, but there is no record traceable anywhere as to the date of its discovery, or
371-562: A transport route, with paddle steamers navigating the river as far as Gundagai . The river trade declined with the coming of the railways. Paddle steamers last used the Murrumbidgee in the 1930s. To allow the steamers and towed barges to pass, there were opening bridges at Hay , Balranald , and Carathool The river has risen above 7 metres (23 ft) at Gundagai nine times between 1852 and 2010, an average of just under once every eleven years. Since 1925, flooding has been minor with
424-571: A very poor condition in the Murray-Darling basin with fish stocks in both rivers were also rated as extremely poor, with only 13 of the original 22 native fish species still found in the Murrumbidgee River. The Murrumbidgee River runs through the traditional lands of the Ngarigo, Ngunnawal, Wiradjuri , Nari Nari and Muthi Muthi Aboriginal peoples. The Murrumbidgee River was known to Europeans before they first recorded it. In 1820
477-544: Is an IBRA subregion in southern New South Wales , Australia , and is the tallest mountain range in mainland Australia , being part of the continent's Great Dividing Range cordillera system. It makes up the northeastern half of the Australian Alps (the other half being the Victorian Alps ) and contains Australia's five tallest peaks , all of which are above 2,100 m (6,890 ft), including
530-474: Is endemic to the alpine region, and covers a mere 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft). Many rare or threatened plant and animal species live within the Snowy Mountains. The Kosciuszko National Park is home to one of Australia's most threatened species (the corroboree frog ), the endangered mountain pygmy possum and the more common dusky antechinus are located in the high country of
583-451: Is now little realised. The Australian Alpine Club was founded in 1950 by Charles Anton . Huts were constructed in the "Backcountry" close to Mount Kosciuszko, including Kunama Hut , which opened for the 1953 season. A rope tow was installed on Mount Northcote at the site and opened in 1954. The site proved excellent for speed skiing, but the hut was destroyed in an avalanche , which also killed one person, in 1956. Anton also recognised
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#1732802035356636-419: Is some disagreement as to exactly how widespread Pleistocene glaciation was on the main range, and little or no evidence from earlier glacial periods exists. The 'David Moraine', a one kilometre long ridge running across Spencers Creek valley seems to indicate a larger glacier existed in this area at some time, however the glacial origin of this feature is disputed. There is evidence of periglacial activity in
689-759: Is suggested that the Upper Murrumbidgee is an anabranch of the Tumut River (that once continued north along Mutta Mutta Creek) when geological uplift near Adaminaby diverted its flow. From Gundagai onwards the rivers flow within its ancestral channel. In June 2008 the Murray-Darling Basin Commission released a report on the condition of the Murray–Darling basin , with the Goulburn and Murrumbidgee Rivers rated in
742-679: The Murray River . The river flows for 66 kilometres (41 mi) through the Australian Capital Territory near Canberra , picking up the important tributaries of the Gudgenby , Queanbeyan , Molonglo and Cotter Rivers . The Murrumbidgee drains much of southern New South Wales and all of the Australian Capital Territory, and is an important source of irrigation water for the Riverina farming area. The reaches of
795-552: The Prince Alfred Bridge over the Murrumbidgee River and as part of a 7.4 km (4.6 mi) deviation of the Hume Highway built to bypass Gundagai . It was constructed using steel-box girder with a single lane of traffic in each direction. It was officially opened to traffic by the Premier of New South Wales , Neville Wran on 25 March 1977. The bridge was named after local politician Bill Sheahan , who had held
848-949: The Southern Hemisphere . In 2022, Perisher had 48 lifts covering 1,245 hectares and four village base areas: Perisher Valley, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega. The Snowy Mountains also feed the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers from the Tooma River , Whites River and Yarrangobilly River . The range is perhaps best known for the Snowy Mountains Scheme , a project to dam the Snowy River, providing both water for irrigation and hydroelectricity . The project began in 1949 employing 100,000 men, two-thirds of whom came from thirty other countries during
901-566: The Wiradjuri language , one of the local Australian Aboriginal languages . The river itself flows through several traditional Aboriginal Australian lands, home to various Aboriginal peoples. In the Australian Capital Territory, the river is bordered by a narrow strip of land on each side; these are managed as the Murrumbidgee River Corridor (MRC). This land includes many nature reserves , eight recreation reserves,
954-435: The snow cover usually melting by November (although it can occasionally persist through high summer and the next autumn). It is considered to be one of the centres of the Australian ski industry during the winter months, with all four snow resorts in New South Wales being located in the region. The range is host to the mountain plum-pine , a low-lying type of conifer . The Alpine Way and Snowy Mountains Highway are
1007-507: The 1860s and experienced a boom in the 20th century following the commencement of the construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme between 1949 and 1976 which brought many European workers to the district and opened up access to the ranges. The discovery of gold at Kiandra (elevation 1,400 m or 4,600 ft), in 1859, briefly enticed a population of thousands above the snowline and saw
1060-514: The ACT is effectively half the river it used to be. The reduced and significantly modified flow of the river is further exasperated by dams on its tributaries, such as Scrivener Dam , Cotter Dam , and Googong Dam . A study suggests a section of the upper river's channels are relatively new in geological terms, dating from the early Miocene (the Miocene era being from 23 to 5 million years ago). It
1113-554: The Australian ski industry. By 1974, 145 km (90 mi) of tunnels and 80 km (50 mi) of aqueducts connected the sixteen dams, seven power stations (two underground), and one pumping station. The American Society of Civil Engineers has rated the Snowy Scheme as "a world-class civil engineering project". The principal lakes created by the scheme include: Lake Eucumbene , Blowering Dam , Talbingo Dam , Lake Jindabyne and Tantangara Dam . The higher regions of
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#17328020353561166-471: The Murrumbidgee River including Wagga Wagga, where the river peaked at 10.56 metres (34.6 ft) on 6 March 2012. This peak was 0.18 metres (0.59 ft) below the 1974 flood level of 10.74 metres (35.2 ft). Major wetlands along the Murrumbidgee or associated with the Murrumbidgee catchment include: Download coordinates as: The Murrumbidgee River has about 90 named tributaries in total; 24 rivers, and numerous creeks and gullies. The ordering of
1219-681: The Murrumbidgee in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are affected by the complete elimination of large spring snowmelt flows and a reduction of average annual flows of almost 50%, due to Tantangara Dam . Tantangara Dam was completed in 1960 on the headwaters of Murrumbidgee River and diverted approximately 99% of the river's flow at that point into Lake Eucumbene . This has extremely serious effects on native fish populations and other native aquatic life and has led to serious siltation, stream contraction, fish habitat loss, and other problems. The Murrumbidgee where it enters
1272-544: The Snowy Mountains for grazing during the summer months. Banjo Paterson 's famous poem The Man From Snowy River recalls this era. The cattle graziers have left a legacy of mountain huts scattered across the area. Today these huts are maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service or volunteer organisations like the Kosciuszko Huts Association . In the 19th century gold was mined on
1325-580: The actual river in April 1821. In 1823, Brigade-Major John Ovens and Captain Mark Currie reached the upper Murrumbidgee when exploring south of Lake George . In 1829, Charles Sturt and his party rowed down the lower half of the Murrumbidgee River in a stoutly built, large row-boat, from Narrandera to the Murray River, and then down the Murray River to the sea. They rowed back upstream, against
1378-575: The area. Solifluction appears to have created terraces on the north west flank of Mount Northcote. Frost heave is also a significant agent of soil erosion in the Kosciuszko Area. The Snowy Mountains cover a variety of climatic regions which support several distinct ecosystems . The alpine area above the tree line is one of the most fragile and covers the smallest area. This area is a patchwork of alpine heaths , herbfields , feldmarks , bogs and fens . The windswept feldmark ecotope
1431-470: The bank opposite its embouchure , whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment on the capacious channel [of the Murray River] we had entered ... The Murrumbidgee basin was opened to settlement in the 1830s and soon became an important farming area. Ernest Favenc , when writing on Australian exploration, commented on the relatively tardy European discovery of the river and that the river retained
1484-445: The basin, from source to mouth, of the major tributaries is: The list below notes past and present bridges that cross over the Murrumbidgee River. There were numerous other crossings before the bridges were constructed and many of these still exist today. a replacement for this bridge in 2020. Download coordinates as: and 2020 and 2009 Snowy Mountains The Snowy Mountains , known informally as " The Snowies ",
1537-505: The current to their starting point. Sturt's description of their passage through the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers is dramatic. His description of wild strong currents in the Murrumbidgee— in the middle of summer (14 January 1830), when flows are declining and close to the seasonal summer/autumn minimum, is in contrast to the reduced flow seen at the junction today in mid-summer: The men looked anxiously out ahead; for
1590-470: The east of the existing structure by Fulton Hogan in 2008/09. The new bridge was officially opened to traffic by Minister for Infrastructure and Transport , Anthony Albanese on 25 May 2009. Duplication of the bridge had been planned since 1995. It initially carried traffic in both directions while the 1977 built bridge was refurbished. From December 2009, it carried southbound traffic only. Prior to 2021, Higher Productivity Vehicles had been unable to use
1643-515: The economy of Cooma has been sustained by the Scheme. Townships at Adaminaby , Jindabyne and Talbingo were inundated by the construction of Lakes Eucumbene , Jindabyne and Talbingo . Improved vehicular access to the High Country enabled ski-resort villages to be constructed at Thredbo and Guthega in the 1950s by ex-Snowy Scheme workers, who realised the potential for expansion of
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1696-512: The exception of floods in 1974 and in December 2010, when the river rose to 10.2 metres (33 ft) at Gundagai. In the 1852 disaster, the river rose to just over 12.2 m (40 ft). The following year the river again rose to just over 12.5 m (41 ft). The construction of Burrinjuck Dam from 1907 has significantly reduced flooding but, despite the dam, there were major floods in 1925, 1950, 1974 and 2012. The most notable flood
1749-538: The explorer Charles Throsby informed the Governor of New South Wales that he anticipated finding "a considerable river of salt water (except at very wet seasons), called by the natives Mur-rum-big-gee". In the expedition journal, Throsby wrote as a marginal note: "This river or stream is called by the natives Yeal-am-bid-gie ..." . The river he had stumbled upon was in fact the Molonglo River , Throsby reached
1802-492: The facility. At 1,760 m (5,774 ft), Charlotte Pass has the highest village base elevation of any Australia ski resort and can only be accessed via over-snow transport in winter. The growing number of ski enthusiasts heading to Charlotte Pass led to the establishment of a cafe at Smiggin Holes around 1939, where horse-drawn sleighs would deliver skiers to begin the arduous ski to the Kosciuszko Chalet. It
1855-702: The high plains near Kiandra . At its height this community had a population of about 4,000 people, and ran 14 hotels. Since the last resident left in 1974, Kiandra has become a ghost town of ruins and abandoned diggings. The Kosciuszko National Park came into existence as the National Chase Snowy Mountains on 5 December 1906. In 1944 this became the Kosciuszko State Park and the Kosciuszko National Park in 1967. Recreational skiing began at Kiandra in
1908-422: The introduction of recreational skiing to the Snowy Mountains around 1861. The Kiandra Goldrush was short-lived, but the township remained a service centre for recreational and survival skiing for over a century. Australia's first T-bar lift was installed at Kiandra in 1957, but the ski facilities were finally shifted up the hill to Selwyn Snowfields in 1978. Steeper slopes and more reliable snows lie further to
1961-537: The major roads through the Snowy Mountains region. The mountain range is thought to have had Aboriginal occupation for 20,000 years. Large gatherings were held in the High Country during summer for collective feasting on the Bogong moth . The area was first explored by Europeans in 1835, and in 1840, Edmund Strzelecki ascended Mount Kosciuszko and named it after the Polish patriot. High country stockmen followed who used
2014-609: The mountains known as Main Range contains mainland Australia's five glacial lakes . The largest of these lakes is Blue Lake , one of the headwaters of the Snowy River . The other four glacial lakes are Lake Albina , Lake Cootapatamba , Club Lake and Headley Tarn. During the last ice age , which peaked about 20,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch , the highest peaks of the main range near Mount Kosciuszko experienced
2067-581: The name of its finder. When in 1823 Captain Currie and Major Ovens were led along its bank on to the beautiful Maneroo country by Joseph Wild, the stream was then familiar to the early settlers and called the Morumbidgee. Even in 1821, when Hume found the Yass Plains, almost on its bank, he makes no special mention of the river. From all this we may deduce the extremely probable fact that the position of
2120-417: The northbound bridge, due to the low design standards. Since March 2021, Higher Productivity Vehicles have been allowed to use the northbound bridge under permit. [REDACTED] Media related to Sheahan Bridge at Wikimedia Commons Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River ( / m ʌr ə m ˈ b ɪ dʒ i / ) is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and
2173-793: The park experience an alpine climate which is unusual on mainland Australia. Generally, only areas above 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) are subject to a consistent heavy winter snowpack . Snow normally falls to around 600 metres (2,000 ft) most winters, and can occur as low as 300 metres (980 ft) on the windward west side of the Snowies (on the South West Slopes ); and on a few occasions has even fallen in Albury only 165 metres (541 ft) above sea level. The weather station at Charlotte Pass recorded Australia's lowest temperature of −23.0 °C (−9.4 °F) on 28 June 1994. Part of
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2226-487: The park. By 2008, wild horse numbers in the National Park had reached 1,700 with that figure growing by up to 300 each year, resulting in park authorities coordinating their culling and relocation. The high country is dominated by alpine woodlands, characterised by the snow gum . Montane and wet sclerophyll forests also occur across the ranges, supporting large stands of alpine ash and mountain gum . In
2279-512: The post-World War II years. Socially this project symbolises a period during which Australia became an ethnic "melting pot" of the twentieth century but which also changed Australia's character and increased its appreciation for a wide range of cultural diversity. The Scheme built several temporary towns for its construction workers, several of which have become permanent: Cabramurra (the highest town in Australia); and Khancoban . Additionally,
2332-536: The potential of the Thredbo Valley for construction of a major resort and village, with good vertical terrain. Construction began in 1957. Today, Thredbo has 14 ski-lifts and possesses Australia's longest ski resort run, the 5.9 km from Karel's T-Bar to Friday Flat ; Australia's greatest vertical drop of 672 m; and the highest lifted point in Australia at 2037 m. The last establishment of
2385-412: The river was shown to some stockrider by a native, who also confided the aboriginal name, and so it gradually worked the knowledge of its identity into general belief. This theory is the more feasible as the river has retained its native name. If a white man of any known position had made the discovery, it would at once have received the name of some person holding official sway. The river was once used as
2438-609: The seat of Burrinjuck in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly . It has three spans over the main river channel and a further 24 south of the river, forming a viaduct over its flood-plain. At the time of completion, it was the second longest bridge in New South Wales and the longest bridge built by the Department of Main Roads . The bridge was duplicated with a new bridge built immediately to
2491-527: The second longest river in Australia . It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory , descending 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) over 1,485 kilometres (923 mi), generally in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains towards its confluence with the Murray River near Boundary Bend . The word Murrumbidgee or Marrambidya means "big water" in
2544-444: The singular change in the river had impressed on them an idea, that we were approaching its termination ... We were carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and contracted banks ... At 3 p.m., Hopkinson called out that we were approaching a junction, and in less than a minute afterwards, we were hurried into a broad and noble river ... such was the force with which we had been shot out of the Morumbidgee, that we were carried nearly to
2597-580: The south and in the 20th century, the focus of recreational skiing in New South Wales shifted southward, to the Mount Kosciuszko region. The Kosciuszko Chalet was built at Charlotte Pass in 1930, giving relatively comfortable access to Australia's highest terrain. In 1964, Australia briefly boasted the "World's Longest Chairlift ", designed to carry skiers from the Thredbo Valley to Charlotte Pass, but technical difficulties soon closed
2650-504: The southern Byadbo wilderness area, dry sclerophyll and wattle forests predominate. Amongst the many different native trees in the park, the large Chinese elm has become naturalised. In Summer 2003, the Australian Alps experienced their largest bushfires for over 60 years with an estimated 1.73 million hectares burning. The bushfires burnt across Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) during
2703-403: The tallest Mount Kosciuszko , which reaches to a height of 2,228 m (7,310 ft) above sea level . The offshore Tasmanian highlands makes up the only other major alpine region present in the whole of Australia. The Snowy Mountains experience large natural snowfalls for several months of the year; with significant accumulation during May, June, July, August, September and October with
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#17328020353562756-498: Was in 1852 when the town of Gundagai was swept away and 89 people, a third of the town's population, were killed. The town was rebuilt on higher ground. In 1925, four people died and the flooding lasted for eight days. The reduction in floods has consequences for wildlife, particularly birds and trees. There has been a decline in bird populations and black box flood plain eucalypt forest trees are starting to lose their crowns. Major flooding occurred during March 2012 along
2809-486: Was the construction of the vast Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme from 1949 that really opened up the Snowy Mountains for large scale development of a ski industry and led to the establishment of Thredbo and Perisher as leading Australian resorts. The Construction of Guthega Dam brought skiers to the isolated Guthega district and a rope tow was installed there in 1957. Skifields up by Kosciuszko's side were also established during this period, though their existence
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