Paringa Bridge, SA
In May 1913 the Barmera Railway line was opened to develop the Murray Mallee region in South Australia. Initially the line was a branch line from Tailem Bend from the main Adelaide-Melbourne line.
The line was extended to Paringa almost as soon as it opened (October 1913).
The line was to be extended across the River Murray to Renmark, but the construction of the Paringa Bridge was delayed by World War 1.
The Paringa Bridge was eventually opened in January 1927. It was designed by South Australian Railways (SAR) and fabricated by Perry Engineering.
The bridge consists of a vertical lift span to allow the passage of river traffic. The lift span is 24 metres long and can lift the span 9.1 metres in 90 seconds.
The rest of the bridges consists of three Pratt Truss spans of 34.3 metres each and a plate girder span at each end.
Originally the road and rail shared a common alignment. Road lanes were added to the bridge to separate the rail and road traffic.
The last train used the bridge on 21 May 1982 and the rail tracks were removed in 1986. The rail alignment is now a shared pedestrian and cycle path.
The bridge is a South Australian State Heritage Place on the South Australian Heritage Register.
References:
South Australian Heritage Places Database entry
