Macleay River railway bridge, Kempsey

The Macleay River Railway Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge that carries the North Coast railway line across the Macleay River from Kempsey to South Kempsey in New South Wales, Australia.

Macleay River Railway Bridge
Heritage boundaries
Coordinates	31°05′12″S 152°49′53″E
Carries	North Coast railway line
Crosses	Macleay River
Locale	Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia
Begins	Kempsey
Ends	South Kempsey
Owner	Transport Asset Holding Entity
Maintained by	Australian Rail Track Corporation
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Material	Steel
Pier construction	Steel & concrete
No. of spans	3
Rail characteristics
No. of tracks	1
History
Fabrication by	Walsh Island Dockyard & Engineering Works
Opened	3 December 1917
New South Wales Heritage Register
Official name	Kempsey rail bridge over Macleay River
Type	State heritage (built)
Designated	2 April 1999
Reference no.	1041
Type	Railway Bridge/Viaduct
Category	Transport – Rail
Location

History

Southbound XPT crossing the Macleay River Railway Bridge with Mount Banda Banda to the upper right

The Macleay River Railway Bridge opened on 3 December 1917 with the extension of the North Coast railway line from Wauchope to Kempsey. The steelwork was made at the Walsh Island Dockyard & Engineering Works, Newcastle and transported to Kempsey by sea.^[1]

The bridge was damaged in floods in 1949 and 1950. It was repaired with the timber trestles replaced by 1880s vintage wrought iron Warren trusses formerly used on the Main Western railway line between Parramatta and Penrith.^[2] It was proposed to replace the entire bridge, but this proposal had been abandoned by 1953.^[3][4]

In 1966 the bridge spans were raised by one metre (three feet) due to the 1950s floods, with new pre-cast concrete approaches constructed..^[5]

Description

The bridge is a steel Pratt truss bridge with consisting of three 61-metre (200 ft) steel spans and two 20-metre (66 ft) plate girder spans. It was built with steel approaches, with the pre-cast concrete approaches added later when the bridge was raised.^[5][6]

When opened in 1917, the crossing of the river was achieved by three 61-metre (200 ft) steel truss spans, approached by timber trestles. After two floods in 1949 and in 1950, the steel trusses were raised approximately one metre (three feet) and the approaches replaced by pre-stressed concrete spans. It was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.^[5]