Macleay River railway bridge, Kempsey

Macleay River railway bridge
Location North Coast railway, Kempsey, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates 31°05′12″S 152°49′53″E / 31.0867°S 152.8314°E / -31.0867; 152.8314Coordinates: 31°05′12″S 152°49′53″E / 31.0867°S 152.8314°E / -31.0867; 152.8314
Owner RailCorp
Official name: Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay River
Type state heritage (built)
Designated 2 April 1999
Reference no. 1041
Type Railway Bridge/ Viaduct
Category Transport - Rail
Location of Macleay River railway bridge in New South Wales

The Macleay River railway bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge on the North Coast railway at Kempsey, Kempsey Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by RailCorp, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[1]

History

The bridge was built in 1917 along with the extension of the North Coast line to Kempsey. The steelwork for the bridge was made at the Walsh Island Dockyard and Engineering Works and transported to the bridge site by steamer.[2]

The bridge was damaged in floods in 1950. It was initially proposed to replace the entire bridge as a result, but this proposal had been abandoned by 1953.[3][4]

In 1966 the bridge spans were raised by 1 metre due to the 1950s floods, with new pre-cast concrete approaches constructed.[1]

Description

The bridge is a steel truss bridge with consisting of two 200 ft steel spans and two 66 ft plate girder spans. It was built with steel approaches, with the pre-cast concrete approaches added later when the bridge was raised.[1][5]

Heritage listing

The Macleay River bridge is one of the major river crossings on the North Coast Railway. When opened in 1917, the crossing of the river was achieved by 3 x 200' steel truss spans, approached by timber trestles. After experience of the 1950s floods, the steel trusses were raised about 1 metre and the approaches replaced by pre-stressed concrete spans.[1]

Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay 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 arch. rare. This item is assessed as socially rare.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay River, New South Wales State Heritage Register (NSW SHR) Number H01041". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "North Coast Railway". The Wingham Chronicle And Manning River Observer. New South Wales, Australia. 15 June 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "New Rail Bridge For Kempsey". Morning Bulletin (27, 784). Queensland, Australia. 19 July 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "NO NEW KEMPSEY RAILWAY BRIDGE". Macleay Argus (9984). New South Wales, Australia. 6 February 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "N.S.W. BRIDGES". Daily Examiner. 24, (7493). New South Wales, Australia. 19 July 1932. p. 21. Retrieved 19 July 2018 – via National Library of Australia.

Attribution

This Wikipedia article was originally based on Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay River, entry number 01041 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.

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