Abbotsford Bridge
| Abbotsford Bridge | |
|---|---|
Abbotsford Bridge from the riverbank on the Victorian side
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| Coordinates | 34°06′51″S 141°59′16″E / 34.1141°S 141.9879°ECoordinates: 34°06′51″S 141°59′16″E / 34.1141°S 141.9879°E |
| Carries | Silver City Highway (as Calder Highway) |
| Crosses | Murray River |
| Locale | Curlwaa, New South Wales, Australia |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Allan truss |
| Total length | Approx 240 m (790 ft) |
| Clearance below |
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| History | |
| Opened | 1928 |
Abbotsford Bridge is a steel Allan truss-type bridge spanning the Murray River between Curlwaa, New South Wales, and Yelta, Victoria. It is the only remaining steel truss bridge with a lift span that crosses the Murray. Opened in 1928, the bridge was built by the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Public Works and was designed by Percy Allan. It was the second last lift-span bridge to be built over the river, the last being the Nyah Bridge, which opened in 1941.
The bridge was constructed over a three-year period from 1925. The project was not originally planned to take as long, but there were delays due to problems with a contractor, and industrial action. The bridge was designed to carry the Mildura railway line over the Murray River and into New South Wales, to service significant cross-border traffic arising from the fruit-growing industry, but the line was never extended beyond the terminus at Yelta. The bridge currently carries a single lane of road controlled by traffic lights.
In 1931, there was a major accident at the bridge when a paddle steamer clipped the lift span, tearing apart the upper deck of the boat.
Abbotsford Bridge is a steel Allan truss bridge that is about 240 m (790 ft) in length. The bridge also contains a single lift span about 20 m (66 ft) in length, which is still in working order. It is two lanes wide through most of its length, but the lift span is only capable of carrying a single lane. The entire bridge has been marked with a single lane and has traffic lights on both ends to control vehicular flow.
The bridge was completed in 1928 by the NSW Department of Public Works and, although opened as a traffic bridge, it was designed to carry the loads required for a railway, once the Mildura railway line had been extended over the bridge. The line was never extended beyond Yelta, where the terminus remains to this day. The location of the bridge was thought to be convenient, as it provided a link to the Sturt Highway without travelling farther upstream to Mildura. It is the only remaining steel truss bridge with a lift span on the Murray, although other lifting bridges still exist along the river. The bridge was built after the decline in commercial river traffic on the Murray. Due to its significance to the local area, it has been listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.
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Wikipedia