Gundagai Historic Bridges, Murrumbidgee River, 1867 & 1903
Description
The historic road bridges comprise an 1867 iron pin-jointed 3-span warren truss, the second oldest extant in Australia, and its reconstructed timber girder viaduct, one of the longest in Australia.
Both carried the Hume Highway across the Murrumbidgee River and its flood plain for 110 years. In the 1860s the iron truss bridge was a major achievement, it is technically sophisticated and is still in use.
These works involved Francis Bell, W. Pickering and engineers of the Department of Public Works.
The 1903 historic railway bridges comprise a typically American steel pin-jointed pratt truss made by A & P Roberts, USA, of 61 metres span and one of the largest in NSW, plus a timber howe truss viaduct, the longest in Australia.
Both carried the branch railway to Tumut across the Murrumbidgee River and its flood plain for 82 years. Uniquely, the river bridges, road and rail, are pin-jointed. These works were erected by day labour and supervised by engineers of the Department of Public Works.
Division
Marker Type
- HEM: Historic Engineering Marker (to 2008)