The bridge was designed by John Fowler. Messrs. Peto, Brassey and Betts were successful in tendering for construction of both the railway line from Campbelltown to Picton and the viaduct. After a great flood occurred in 1860 during the finalising of its design, the bridge was lifted over six feet to provide sufficient clearance for floodwaters.
During its construction, about 500 people (construction gangs and their families) lived in tents and small huts nearby.
The sandstone for the piers was quarried about one and a half miles upstream and transported by temporary tramway. The ironwork was fabricated at Birkenhead in the UK and loaded on to two vessels which sailed in 1861.
The bridge is one of two identical bridges constructed for the NSW Railways, the other being over the Nepean River at Penrith. The Penrith bridge was opened in 1867 but has been used for road traffic since 1907.
In 1976, some wagons of a goods train were derailed on the northern approach and came into violent collision with the ornamental masonry piers at that end. They were so severely damaged that they were demolished from above the rail level and have not been replaced.
Last Monday the 12th of August, a presentation was made to acknowledge the 150th anniversary of the opening of the bridge.
Menangle Railway Bridge taken in the 1930s (Riley Collection)
Written by Andrew Allen
Does any one know what type of bridge it is
ReplyDeleteNot sure myself. I will try the railway archives to see if they know. Andrew
ReplyDeleteThe section where menagle road goes under the bridge was always special for my family, my dad worked on a farm, he called it out there... he said he sat on the rail pridge just where the cars go under and danggled his feet in the water during the floods... also if you backtrack a little to the showgound turn off, there used to be a strawberry farm just as you go under to railway bridge to the showgrounds... we used to sneek in there and get strawberries up untill the farmer came running down the hill towards us.. and that was then end of that..
ReplyDeleteFinally, for those younger people out there... back in the day, Nepean River Reserve was quite a nice spot to go swimming during summer... it was also a great spot to get a little hot and bothered with your lady friend :)