Paringa Bridge

Paringa Bridge
Coordinates34°11′S 140°47′E / 34.18°S 140.78°E / -34.18; 140.78
CarriesBarmera railway line (until 1982)
Sturt Highway
CrossesMurray River
LocaleParinga, South Australia
Maintained byDepartment of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure
Characteristics
DesignVertical-lift
Total length173 metres
History
Opened31 January 1927
Closed7 March 1984 (rail only)
Location
Map

The Paringa Bridge carries the Sturt Highway across the Murray River in Paringa, South Australia. Until 1982, it also carried the Barmera railway line.

The bridge consists of a vertical-lift span 78 feet (24 m) long which can rise 30 feet (9.1 m) in one and a half minutes. There are three Pratt truss spans of 112.5 feet (34.3 m), and a plate girder span at each end.[1] It was designed by the South Australian Railways (SAR) and fabricated by Perry Engineering of Adelaide. It opened on 31 January 1927.[2][3] It was built as a road-rail bridge with both the Sturt Highway and Barmera railway lines using the same reservation.[4] Maintenance cost were shared equally between the SAR and Highways department.[5]

Subsequently, road lanes were added on either side to segregate the road and rail traffic.[4] The last train crossed the bridge on 21 May 1982 with the line beyond Renmark formally closed on 7 March 1984.[6] The railway tracks were removed in 1986 and the centre reservation converted to a shared pedestrian and cycle path.[7]

The vertical-lift span is opened twice a day for river traffic.[8]

The bridge was listed as a State Heritage Place on the South Australian Heritage Register on 29 June 1989.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Paringa, SA". Aussie Towns. Paringa Suspension Bridge. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  2. ^ The Paringa Bridge Adelaide Advertiser 31 January 1927 page 8
  3. ^ "Renmark's Great Day" South Australian Register 1 February 1927 page 9
  4. ^ a b c Paringa Bridge South Australia Heritage Places
  5. ^ Road-Rail Bridge at Paringa Keeping Track issue 71 April 1974 page 1
  6. ^ "Here & There" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 561 July 1984 page 63
  7. ^ "The Paringa Lift Span Bridge" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 726 April 1998 pages 139-142
  8. ^ Paringa Bridge lifting span operational again for River Murray traffic Department of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure 30 May 2015

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