Uriarra, Australian Capital Territory
Encyclopedia
Uriarra is a settlement in the Australian Capital Territory
. It had been a forestry settlement from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The 2003 bushfires destroyed 16 houses in Uriarra, with only 6 houses still standing afterwards. 15 families moved away from the settlement, with 6 remaining.
photo
In 2007 the ACT government decided to redevelop the settlement as a rural village, and development of new roads and infrastructure commenced. All blocks of land were sold by late 2010. As at May 2011 around half the blocks in the village had construction completed. The development has a number of restrictions on building, such as there is no treated town water, only untreated water from the Bendora Dam
. Each house must have a rain water tank, sewerage treatment, and firefighting system. The village has a buffer zone for horse agistment.
to Brindabella, New South Wales
and Tumut. It also has a farm called Uriarra about a kilometre to the west where Mountain Creek Road (the way to Yass
) joins.
Uriarra Forest to the south was destroyed in the 2003 bushfire.
and Belconnen
.
A punt operated the crossing from around 1860. A bridge was constructed and officially opened on 5 October 1901. That bridge was swept away in the floods of 1922, and for a time was not to be rebuilt due to the proximity of the Cotter Bridge . A new bridge was eventually reconstructed, and opened for traffic on the 28 March 1936.
period.
Uriarra Volcanics appear north west of the Winslade fault. It consists of dacite
lava
flows and pyroclastic deposits of tuff
. A fine ashstone
bed called Tarpaulin Creek Ashstone Member outcrops in a distorted north south line acts as a marker. Tuff and flows above and below the ashstone member contain obvious pink feldspar
crystals. The tuff shows bedding
, and the flows have banded flow structure. The Cotter Porphyry
to the north of the Cotter Dam is actually a dacite flow. There is a limestone
lens north of Uriarra Crossing. The outcrop goes from Mountain Creek Road in the west to the Murrumbidgee river in the east. It extends a few kilometers to the north of the ACT border and south to the Winslade Fault near the Cotter River. A wedge of limestone extends to the south south west including Pierces Creek
.
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
. It had been a forestry settlement from the 1920s to the 1980s.
The 2003 bushfires destroyed 16 houses in Uriarra, with only 6 houses still standing afterwards. 15 families moved away from the settlement, with 6 remaining.
photo
In 2007 the ACT government decided to redevelop the settlement as a rural village, and development of new roads and infrastructure commenced. All blocks of land were sold by late 2010. As at May 2011 around half the blocks in the village had construction completed. The development has a number of restrictions on building, such as there is no treated town water, only untreated water from the Bendora Dam
Bendora Dam
The Bendora Dam is a thin-wall, double curvature concrete dam, completed in 1961 on the Cotter River in the Australian Capital Territory to supply water to Canberra, via the Bendora Gravity Main. It was the first dam of its type built in Australia. It is 47.2 metres high.-References:* Canberra's...
. Each house must have a rain water tank, sewerage treatment, and firefighting system. The village has a buffer zone for horse agistment.
Location
The village is off the side of the Brindabella Road that connects the Cotter area via the Brindabella RangesBrindabella Ranges
The Brindabella Range is a mountain range located on the border between New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The ranges rise to the west of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, and include the Namadgi National Park in the A.C.T. and Bimberi Nature Reserve and...
to Brindabella, New South Wales
Brindabella, New South Wales
Brindabella is a locality in south east New South Wales, Australia, in the area of Yass Valley Council. It is reached by the Brindabella Road from the Australian Capital Territory over the Brindabella Ranges...
and Tumut. It also has a farm called Uriarra about a kilometre to the west where Mountain Creek Road (the way to Yass
Yass, New South Wales
Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....
) joins.
Uriarra Forest to the south was destroyed in the 2003 bushfire.
Uriarra Crossing
Uriarra Crossing is a low level bridge over the Murrumbidgee River on Uriarra Road to the north, providing an alternative route to Weston CreekWeston Creek
Weston Creek is a residential district of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, situated to the west of the Woden Valley district and approximately 13 km southwest of the Canberra city centre...
and Belconnen
Belconnen
Belconnen is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 25 suburbs with 29,900 dwellings housing 82,247 people of the 311,518 people in the Australian Capital Territory ....
.
A punt operated the crossing from around 1860. A bridge was constructed and officially opened on 5 October 1901. That bridge was swept away in the floods of 1922, and for a time was not to be rebuilt due to the proximity of the Cotter Bridge . A new bridge was eventually reconstructed, and opened for traffic on the 28 March 1936.
Geology
Rocks from the Uriarra area are from the SilurianSilurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
period.
Uriarra Volcanics appear north west of the Winslade fault. It consists of dacite
Dacite
Dacite is an igneous, volcanic rock. It has an aphanitic to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. The relative proportions of feldspars and quartz in dacite, and in many other volcanic rocks, are illustrated in the QAPF diagram...
lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
flows and pyroclastic deposits of tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
. A fine ashstone
Ashstone
Ashstone is a kind of volcanic rock formed from fine volcanic ash.During an explosive volcanic eruption, fragmentation of the magma can result in the formation of volcanic ash, consisting of sand-sized or smaller particles....
bed called Tarpaulin Creek Ashstone Member outcrops in a distorted north south line acts as a marker. Tuff and flows above and below the ashstone member contain obvious pink feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
crystals. The tuff shows bedding
Bedding
Bedding refers to the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for hygiene, warmth, to protect the mattress, and for decorative effect. Bedding is the removable and washable portion of a human sleeping environment. It is more easily and economically replaced than the bed itself...
, and the flows have banded flow structure. The Cotter Porphyry
Porphyry (geology)
Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts...
to the north of the Cotter Dam is actually a dacite flow. There is a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
lens north of Uriarra Crossing. The outcrop goes from Mountain Creek Road in the west to the Murrumbidgee river in the east. It extends a few kilometers to the north of the ACT border and south to the Winslade Fault near the Cotter River. A wedge of limestone extends to the south south west including Pierces Creek
Pierces Creek, Australian Capital Territory
Pierces Creek, a forestry settlement in the Australian Capital Territory. The ACT government agreed to redevelop this rural settlement in 2003.In 1991, a bushfire destroyed $1.5 million worth of pine trees at Pierces Creek....
.