Engineering Heritage National Marker - McKay`s Minimum Energy Loss Culvert Print Page

The Engineering Heritage National Marker commemorates McKay`s Minimum Energy Loss Culvert.

The outflow of Humpybong Creek to Moreton Bay in the City of Redcliffe is the first example – constructed in 1961 – of Professor Gordon McKay’s Minimum Energy Loss Culvert concept.

The design enabled maximum energy conservation through the culvert and resulted in streamlined flow and no buildup of water level leading into the structure.

The MEL concept has been adopted in many situations in Australia and has been favourably reviewed in many international publications. Large savings have resulted in both construction and maintenance costs compared with conventional culvert design.

Engineering Heritage Australia, a special interest group within Engineers Australia, runs a program that recognises historically significant engineering works. Such works have a plaque on display, with a brief summary of the significance of the work. The program was established in 1984 with two categories of awards, "National Engineering Landmark" and "Historic Engineering Marker".

In 2009 these were renamed "Engineering Heritage National Landmark" and "Engineering Heritage Marker"; in 2011 and 2012 the awards were renamed and a third category added.  The current awards are:

• Engineering Heritage Marker
• Engineering Heritage National Marker
• Engineering Heritage International Marker

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