| Bradfield Scheme | |
|---|---|
 Map of the water transfers of the scheme, first published 1st October 1938. | |
| Purpose | Irrigate agricultural land in western Queensland, Australia |
| Proposed | 1938 |
| Abandoned | 1947 |
| Proponents | |
| Opponents | W. H. R. Nimmo |
The Bradfield Scheme, a proposed Australian water diversion scheme, is an inland irrigation project that was designed to irrigate and drought-proof much of the western Queensland interior, as well as large areas of South Australia. It was devised by Dr John Bradfield (1867–1943), a Queensland born civil engineer, who also designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane's Story Bridge.[1]
The scheme that Bradfield proposed in 1938 required large pipes, tunnels, pumps and dams. It involved diverting water from the upper reaches of the Tully, Herbert and Burdekin rivers.[2] These Queensland rivers are fed by the monsoon, and flow east to the Coral Sea. It was proposed that the water would enter the Thomson River on the western side of the Great Dividing Range and eventually flow south west to Lake Eyre.[3] An alternative plan was to divert water into the Flinders River.
G. W. Leeper of the school of agricultural science at the University of Melbourne considered the plan to be lacking in scientific justification.[1]
In 1981, a Queensland NPA subcommittee proposed a variation of the scheme.[4]
- ^ a b Spearritt, Peter (1979). "John Job Crew Bradfield (1867–1943)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
awrwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Augmenting Queensland's Inland Water Resources by J.J.C. Bradfield". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 1 October 1938. p. 6. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ The Revised Bradfield Scheme, November 1981