Thursday, March 15, 2007

Wagga Wagga Rail Bridge


The railway to North Wagga Wagga (Bomen) was opened on 3 September 1878. A year later the first trains reached Wagga Wagga itself via a temporary wooden bridge. The iron bridge was completed in November 1880 and the first train crossed it on 16 January 1881. As trains became bigger structural alterations made the bridge higher and wider.
In recent years there was concern over a possible bridge failure which would sever the main rail artery between Sydney and Melbourne. The bridge also imposed a speed restriction on rail operators as they had to slow down to 20 kilometres an hour to cross the bridge.

On the 23rd of January 2007 the new bridge was opened. In 4 days the old superstructure was removed and the new bridge constructed. Approximately 22 trains cross the bridge each day and they are now able to travel at up to 80 kilometres an hour.