Angellala Bridge Explosion Site
Overview
At 9.50pm on the 5th of September 2014, 26km south of Charleville, Australian transport history was made.
Moments before 9pm on Friday, 5th September 2014, a truck carrying 52.8 tonnes of ammonium nitrate was involved in a single-vehicle incident. The explosion was the equivalent power to 10–15 tonnes of TNT and so powerful that 30 kilometres away, Charleville residents thought there was an earthquake. In fact, the explosion was measured as a seismic event measuring 2.1 on the Richter scale. Thankfully not a life was lost in the largest explosion in Australian transportation history.
Leafless trees fringed the area after 44 bags of ammonium nitrate, each bag weighing 1.2 tonnes, exploded alongside the Matilda Highway.
The site and ruins of this historic explosion are now signposted, and the story is told through interpretive signs at the site. The railway bridge will never be rebuilt.
You can find the explosion site 30 km southwest of Charleville. There’s a pull-off area suitable for caravans, motorhomes and camper trailers.