The Argyle Street railway bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge on the

Main Southern railway line The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs from Sydney to Albury, near the Victorian border. The line passes through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and Riverina regions. ...

(146.037 km) at

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has several he ...

Wingecarribee Shire Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Country ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It was designed and built by the

New South Wales Government Railways The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. Management The agency was managed by a range of differe ...

in 1914 with steel supplied by

Dorman Long Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired ''West Marsh ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The property is owned by

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...

, an

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

During the period from 1910 to 1923, the

embarked on a large programme of railway duplications; on the Main South line from Picton to

Cootamundra Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. ...

, on the Main Western line from Bowenfels to

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, on the Main Northern line from

Farley Farley may refer to: People * Farley (name), a list of people with the given name or surname Places Antarctica * Mount Farley * Farley Massif Australia * Farley, New South Wales * Farley railway station England * Farley, Derbyshire * Farle ...

to Branxton and on the

Illawarra line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra Railway) is a commuter and goods railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line services the Illawarra a ...

from Waterfall to

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. The dominant structure for the underbridges was the brick arch in single spans and multiple span viaducts. Concurrently, there were brick arches on the Metropolitan Goods Lines. However, there were sites where brick arches were not appropriate and Argyle Street, Moss Vale, on the Main South, was one of them. When the original single track Main South line was built through Moss Vale in 1868, it crossed Argyle Street on a low-level timber beam bridge. In 1886 the Existing Lines Branch replaced the timber bridge with a wrought iron truss, still single track. When the duplications were planned around 1910 a new double track bridge was designed. It was to be at a higher level, clear span over Argyle Street. By then the change over from British to American bridge technology was complete and American style steel Pratt trusses were standard for large span railway bridges. A policy decision was made to build for the future with bridges designed to carry locomotives of double the current weight and for higher speeds. This avoided the expensive operation of frequent replacing of and relocating of inadequate bridges, as happened at Moss Vale when the 30-year old wrought iron truss was removed then rebuilt at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

over the

Georges River The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river travels for approximately in a north and then easterly ...

to serve the military area. The cost-effectiveness of the policy has been proved at Moss Vale, and many other sites, because the bridges are still in use carrying the modern heavy diesel locomotives with strings of heavy bulk wagons.

Description

The Argyle Street railway bridge is a large steel through Pratt

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

bridge on a 40.54 m (133 feet) skew

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

with brick abutments and wing walls. It was reported to be in good condition as at 16 March 2006. The bridge retains its original fabric.

Heritage listing

The Argyle Street railway truss in Moss Vale is highly significant because it is an important item of infrastructure on the historic Main South Railway and has been in use for 85 years, it is a dominant feature of the Moss Vale townscape, it shares in the enormous social and commercial contribution that the Main South Railway has made to New South Wales and the bridge has technical significance because of it was one of the new heavy-duty trusses of the American style Pratt truss which had become standard for large span bridges. The skew design and construction adds to the technical significance. The skew construction is relatively rare for major bridges. The bridge is a highly visible and fine example of a heavy duty, steel Pratt truss bridge, which retains its original fabric. The Argyle Street railway bridge was listed on the

on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. The Argyle Street railway truss at Moss Vale is an important item of infrastructure on the historic Main South Railway and has been in use for 85 years. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The bridge is a dominant feature of the Moss Vale townscape. The place has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The Main South has brought enormous social and commercial benefits to south-western NSW, the Southern Highlands and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for 130 years, and all infrastructure has shared In the significance of that outcome. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The bridge has technical significance because of it was one of the new heavy-duty trusses of the American style Pratt truss which had become standard for large span bridges. The skew design and construction adds to the technical significance. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. Skew bridges are relatively rare, particularly for major bridges where square crossing are preferred. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. A fine example of a highly visible steel Pratt truss bridge.

References

Bibliography

Attribution