Alternative NameHumpty BridgeDescriptionIn 1926 a public meeting proposed building a bridge over Lake Doonella. Its estimated cost was £5000 (about $1,500,000 today). Over the following years the Council decided to build a bridge over Weyba Creek also. They negotiated with T.M. Burke & Co. to fund the construction by selling the company several hundred acres at what is now Sunshine Beach (then confusingly called ‘Coolum Beach’) for £12,500 (around $3,500,000 today). The company would then receive the majority of this money back by building the pile bridges. The surface of Gympie Terrace was gravelled in anticipation of the traffic.
The bridges over Lake Doonella and Weyba Creek were officially opened on 19th October 1929 by the Home Secretary, J.C. Peterson, connecting Tewantin, Noosaville and Noosa Heads by road for the first time. It is reported that some 700 cars were in attendance, waiting to cross, and that 4000 people gathered at Noosa Heads beach later that day. A 12 year-old, Laurie Lennox, rode the first horse over Doonella Bridge as part of the opening, recalling in later years that he was scolded by his father for cantering instead of walking. Lionel Donovan, of Laguna House at Noosa Heads, claimed to have driven the first car across by sneaking under the chain prior to the official opening.
The opening of the bridges brought more residents and visitors to Gympie Terrace as well as a lot of traffic passing through. It also brought motor vehicle accidents, though most of these were minor. However, the increased traffic impacted the surface of Gympie Terrace straight away. The Gympie Terrace Improvement Society reported the terrible state of the road as early as May 1930 and continued to remind the Council until it was addressed.
In 1950, the Tewantin-Noosa Progress Association requested Council look into the matter of providing a pedestrian bridge across Lake Doonella as the increased motor traffic on the existing bridge was a menace to those on foot, especially during holidays.
In 1969, construction began of concrete bridges over both Lake Doonella and Weyba Creek to replace the wooden ones opened forty years earlier. The popularity of the old Weyba Bridge, however, saw it remain in place as a pedestrian bridge.
