Macleay River railway bridge, Kempsey

Bridge in New South Wales, Australia

31°05′12″S 152°49′53″E / 31.0867°S 152.8314°E / -31.0867; 152.8314CarriesNorth Coast railway lineCrossesMacleay RiverLocaleKempsey, New South Wales, AustraliaBeginsKempseyEndsSouth KempseyOwnerTransport Asset Holding EntityMaintained byAustralian Rail Track CorporationCharacteristicsDesignTruss bridgeMaterialSteelPier constructionSteel & concreteNo. of spans3Rail characteristicsNo. of tracks1HistoryFabrication byWalsh Island Dockyard & Engineering WorksOpened3 December 1917

New South Wales Heritage Register

Official nameKempsey rail bridge over Macleay RiverTypeState heritage (built)Designated2 April 1999Reference no.1041TypeRailway Bridge/ViaductCategoryTransport – Rail Location Map

The Macleay River Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge that carries the North Coast railway line across the Macleay River from Kempsey to South Kempsey in New South Wales, Australia.

History

The Macleay River Railway Bridge opened on 3 December 1917 with the extension of the North Coast railway line from Wauchope to Kempsey. The steelwork was made at the Walsh Island Dockyard & Engineering Works, Newcastle and transported to Kempsey by sea.^[1]

The bridge was damaged in floods in 1949 and 1950. It was repaired with the timber trestles replaced by 1880s vintage wrought iron Warren trusses formerly used on the Main Western railway line between Parramatta and Penrith.^[2] It was proposed to replace the entire bridge, but this proposal had been abandoned by 1953.^[3]^[4]

In 1966 the bridge spans were raised by one metre (three feet) due to the 1950s floods, with new pre-cast concrete approaches constructed..^[5]

Description

The bridge is a steel Pratt truss bridge with consisting of three 61-metre (200 ft) steel spans and two 20-metre (66 ft) plate girder spans. It was built with steel approaches, with the pre-cast concrete approaches added later when the bridge was raised.^[5]^[6]

When opened in 1917, the crossing of the river was achieved by three 61-metre (200 ft) steel truss spans, approached by timber trestles. After two floods in 1949 and in 1950, the steel trusses were raised approximately one metre (three feet) and the approaches replaced by pre-stressed concrete spans. It was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[5]

References

^ "North Coast Railway". The Wingham Chronicle & Manning River Observer. Kempsey. 15 June 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
^ Repairing Kempsey Railway Bridge EHA Magazine September 2021 pages 23-28
^ "New Rail Bridge For Kempsey". Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton. 19 July 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
^ "No New Kempsey Bridge". Macleay Argus. Mavcleay. 6 February 1953. p. 4. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay River". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01041. Retrieved 2 June 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
^ "NSW Bridges". Daily Examiner. Grafton. 19 July 1932. p. 21. Retrieved 19 July 2018.