NSW Engineering Timeline: Railway Bridges
| Pre 1788 | 1788-1799 | 1800-1819 | 1820-1839 | 1840-1859 | 1860-1879 | 1880-1899 | |
| RAILWAY BRIDGES | Lewisham viaduct & Parramatta St (stone arches), 1855. Macquarie Fields (two laminated timber arches), 1858. |
Menangle (1st wrought iron bridge)1863. Emu Plains (2nd wrought iron bridge), 1867. Knapsack Creek (sandstone arch viaduct), 1867. Stonequarry Creek, Picton (stone arch), 1867. First tunnels (Picton & Mt Gibraltar), 1867. Southern Highlands, (five wrought iron plate web girder bridges), 1868. Wagga Wagga (three wrought iron lattice girders), 1869-1881. Great Zig Zag, Blue Mountains (stone arch viaducts & two tunnels) 1869. Solitary Creek, Great Western Railway (12 brick arches & five wrought iron girder bridges), 1870. |
Parramatta to Penrith (14 wrought-iron Warren trusses replace timber bridges), 1884. First Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge 1889. Moss Vale, Argyle Street (Schweidler truss replaces timber bridge), 1885. Como, Georges River (wrought iron lattice), 1885. Lewisham (stone arch replaced by Whipple truss) 1886. Meadowbank & border bridge at Albury - the only lattice girders with two tracks, 1886. Goulburn to Queanbeyan, Molonglo & Queanbeyan Rivers (large multi-span timber arches) 1887. Newcastle to Gosford (wrought iron plate web girders & tunnels are double track) 1888. Hawkesbury River (1st use of steel, largest bridge) 1889. Yass River, Yass Tramway (200ft Pratt truss, using imported steel) 1892. Policy to eliminate timber bridges on main lines 1897. Narrabri (first use of Deane’s new timber truss design) 1897. Hilltop (first reinforced concrete arch overbridge) 1897. | ||||
| 1788-1799 | 1800-1819 | 1820-1839 | 1840-1859 | 1860-1879 | 1880-1899 |
| 1900-1919 | 1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999 | 2000-2019 | |
| RAILWAY BRIDGES | Gundagai to Tumut line - 77 timber trusses, 2 plate web girders and 200ft span pin-jointed hog-backed steel truss, 1902. Arched truss roof over Grand Concourse of Sydney station, 1906. 1867 Emu Plains bridge by-passed & converted to road use 1907. Standard bridge designs of Pratt trusses & plate web girders by J W Roberts, 1910. Great Zig Zag by passed, 1910. |
Darling Harbour Goods Line extended across Wentworth and Federal Parks with multiple-span brick arch viaducts, 1922. First reinforced concrete railway underbridge in NSW over Eddy Avenue on City Railway, 1926. Double-deck road & rail bridge, with bascule opening span over Clarence River at Grafton, 1932. |
Replacement Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge opened, 1946. First pre-stressed concrete overbridge - at Sunnyholt Road, Blacktown, 1954. City Railway completed through Circular Quay viaduct, 1956. Kempsey Bridge raised 1.2m to above flood level, 1966. |
First pre-stressed concrete underbridge - at Dombarton on Unanderra to Moss Vale line, 1962. Pre-stressed concrete viaducts on Eastern Suburbs Railway at Woolloomooloo & Rushcutters Bay, 1969-74. Single track lattice girder Como bridge bypassed with double track pre-stressed concrete bridge, 1972. Bold Street overbridge at Granville demolished by derailed train, 1977. |
1886 lattice girder bridge at Meadowbank replaced by steel box girder bridge, 1980. | |
| 1900-1919 | 1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999 |
