Bridge in New South Wales, Australia
The
Macquarie River railway bridge
is a
heritage-listed
disused
railway bridge
across the
Macquarie River
that was previously located on the
Main Western line
in
Bathurst
in the
Bathurst Region
local government area of
New South Wales
, Australia. It was built in 1876. It is also known as
Bathurst Rail Bridge over Macquarie River
and
Bathurst ? Kelso Railway Bridge
. The property is owned by
Transport Asset Holding Entity
, an
agency
of the
Government of New South Wales
. The bridge was added to the
New South Wales State Heritage Register
on 2 April 1999
[1]
and was added to the (now defunct)
Register of the National Estate
on 18 April 1989.
[2]
History
[
edit
]
The bridge opened with the extension of the railway line into Bathurst in April 1876. It was designed by
John Whitton
, with the ironwork by Messrs. Andrew Handyside & Co. of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby, imported from England by the contractor, William Mason.
[3]
The bridge is a significant technical accomplishment. Placed in service in 1876 it has three main
lattice truss
spans
, each of 48.5 metres (159 ft). It is one of a series of twelve related bridges, all with 48.5-metre (159 ft) lattice trusses, built between 1871 and 1887. The bridge at Bathurst is the second of a series and is the oldest of the eleven that remain; the earlier 1871 Hunter Bridge at Aberdeen, with three 48.5-metre (159 ft) spans, no longer remains. The bridge is of considerable age and size for its type. It is the ninth oldest of existing Australian metal truss bridges. When completed in 1876, the only metal truss bridges of longer span were the South Esk River Rail Bridge at Longford (1871, 64 metres (210 ft), still existing) and the original Brisbane River Rail Bridge at Indooroopilly (1876, 48.8 metres (160 ft), destroyed by flood). The only metal truss bridges of greater total length were at Moorabool (1852, 396 metres (1,299 ft), replaced), the original bridge at Indooroopilly (as above, 207 metres (679 ft)), and the bridge at Aberdeen (1871, same spans as this bridge). The present bridge is therefore the longest remaining metal truss bridge of its age. The series of lattice truss bridges, of which this is the oldest surviving example, was designed by
Sir John Fowler
(co-designer of the World Heritage-listed
Firth of Forth Bridge
) for Whitton, and was one of the subjects of the 1884-86 Railway Bridges Enquiry, which finally approved their design.
[2]
Description
[
edit
]
The Macquarie River underbridge is made of
wrought iron
with
lattice
girder.
[1]
The bridge carries a single
4 ft
8
+
1
⁄
2
in
(
1,435 mm
)
standard gauge
railway with transomes on timber stringers on metal cross girders which frame into the sides of the lower chords. The main trusses are through type lattice trusses, continuous over three 48.5-metre (159 ft) spans. They are of constant depth with seven triangulations and are connected together above the track by characteristic arched latticed braces. They are supported on twin, cast iron cylinder piers. The superstructure was fabricated by Handyside and Company, Derby, England; the principal contractors were Cummings, Mason and Mason and Ellsington. The bridge was load tested on 8 March 1876 and placed in service on 4 April 1876.
[2]
In
c.
1950s
, work commenced on replacing the bridge but this was held up until 2008 when funding was approved via a concrete girder bridge that is located a few meters upriver of the heritage-listed bridge.
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Previous work was removed and adjusted to the new specifications and new construction completed.
Heritage listing
[
edit
]
This is one of John Whitton's major 1870s wrought iron bridges and is an excellent example of early bridge construction. The lattice girder is one of Whitton's original twelve bridges of that design and they represent the third stage of bridge construction in NSW following the stone viaduct and iron tubular bridges.
[1]
Bathurst rail bridge over Macquarie River was listed on the
New South Wales State Heritage Register
on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.
[1]
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
This item is assessed as historically rare. This item is assessed as scientifically rare. This item is assessed as arch. rare. This item is assessed as socially rare.
[1]
Gallery
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Government Architect's Office (2005).
Bathurst Hospital Conservation Management Plan
.
- Best, Ross; Fraser, Don (May 1982).
Railway Lattice Girder Bridges in New South Wales
. Conference on the Protection of the Engineering Heritage. Brisbane, Queensland:
Institute of Engineers Australia
.
- O'Connor, Colin; Australian Heritage Commission; Institution of Engineers, Australia (1983).
Register of Australian historic bridges
.
Institution of Engineers, Australia
.
ISBN
978-0-85825-231-8
.
- O'Connor, Colin (1985).
Spanning two centuries: historic bridges of Australia
. University of Queensland Press.
ISBN
978-0-7022-1798-2
.
Attribution
[
edit
]
This Wikipedia article was originally based on
Bathurst rail bridge over Macquarie River
, entry number 01025 in the
New South Wales State Heritage Register
published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under
CC-BY 4.0
licence
, accessed on 2 June 2018.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Macquarie River railway bridge, Bathurst
at Wikimedia Commons