Murrumbidgee River Railway Bridge, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales

The Murrumbidgee River railway bridge is a former railway bridge that carried the Main Southern railway line across the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga, NSW. The original bridge, erected in 1881, was replaced in 2006. The original four span wrought iron lattice truss bridge opened on 16 January 1881. It was the second oldest bridge out of the twelve related wrought iron lattice truss series bridges built in Australia. Each of the four lattice truss spans were 46 metres long which joined onto what was thought to be the longest timber viaduct in Australia. The bridge was considered as of major importance to the history of bridge engineering in Australia. Wagga Wagga Railway Station is located on the Sydney to Melbourne railway line.



This railway crossing of the Murrumbidgee River and flood plain was planned by John Whitton, Engineer-in-Chief for Railways 1856-90. Assembled from components manufactured in England, the 4-span continuous wrought iron lattice bridge was completed in November 1880. The original timber viaducts were completed in 1879 then replaced by the present steel viaducts during 1897-1901. As part of the rail link between Sydney and Melbourne through the Riverina, these structures have been of immense national value.

The bridge's spans were manufactured by P. & W. McClellan & Co., Glasgow weighing a combined 790 tonnes (870 short tons). The northern approach was originally built with 215 timber trestles. These were replaced with steel trestles over a four-year period from 1897. The trestles were strengthened in 1994 as part of the One Nation project. By 2000 a 20 km/h speed restriction over the bridge had been imposed.



The bridge was removed and replaced with a new concrete bridge during a four-day shut down from 30 December 2006. The wrought iron lattice railway bridge was cut away using oxy cutters. One cut section of the bridge was donated to railway preservation group Tumbarail at Ladysmith. The rest of the bridge was taken to Port Kembla for disposal. The new bridge allowed an 80 km/h speed limit to be introduced.


The new Murrumbidgee River railway bridge

The old bridge received a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.