Leycester Creek railway bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge that carries the closed

Murwillumbah railway line The Murwillumbah railway line is a mostly disused railway line in far north-eastern Northern Rivers New South Wales, Australia. The line ran from Casino to Lismore, Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Murwillumbah, opening in 1894. It is one of only t ...

across

Leycester Creek The Leycester Creek, a perennial stream of the Richmond River catchment, is located in Northern Rivers region in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Location and features Leycester Creek rises below Lofts Pinnacle on the southern extremity ...

in Lismore, in the City of Lismore local government area of

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. The bridge is owned by Transport Asset Holding Entity, 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 ...

and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

History

The bridge was built by contractors Crosbie, Marquand and Co. The contract included both the Leycester Creek and Wilson's Creek bridges, the contractors accepting

A£ The pound (Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s ...

20,708 to build the two bridges, later increased to A£22,110. Construction suffered various delays, such as damaged and broken iron cylinders, but was finally completed in October 1892. It was claimed at the bridge's completion that it was the first steel bridge in the country. The railway over the bridge opened in May 1894. The bridge has been disused since the closure of the Murwillumbah railway line in 2004.

Description

The bridge consists of a steel three-span

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 ...

, with one , one and one spans. According to the Narrabri to North Star Phase 2 Moree to Camurra North Statement of Heritage Impact, "The Leycester Creek Underbridge at Lismore is a good, intact and representative example of a steel Pratt truss underbridge, one of five built at the inception of the Lismore to Murwillumbah railway line in 1894, and an early example of the introduction of American bridge technology by the NSW Government." Leycester-ck-bridge-2023-2

In 2018, the "Daily Telegraph" reported that according to an assessment it had seen, it would cost in the order of a million (Australian) dollars to bring the bridge up to a satisfactory condition for any possible re-opening. (subscription required)

Heritage listing

This bridge is part of a group named "

Lismore railway underbridges Lismore railway underbridges is a heritage-listed group of railway-associated structures in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia erected for the 1894 creation of that section of the Murwillumbah railway line. This item (as no. SHR 1044) was ...

" that is included on the NSW State Heritage Register, as item 01044. That listing states: "The Lismore bridges and viaducts are a fine set of bridges all in one location demonstrating the problems of building railways in this flood prone area dating from 1892." Lismore railway underbridges was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. This item is assessed as historically rare. This item is assessed as scientifically rare. This item is assessed as arch. rare. This item is assessed as socially rare.

Notes

References

Attribution

External links

*Google Maps street views of th
Leycester Creek bridge
(view from Crane Street, North Lismore)
Drone aerial footage of the bridge
taken in 2017 {{Australian railway bridges, state=autocollapse New South Wales State Heritage Register Lismore, New South Wales Railway bridges in New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Bridges completed in 1892 1892 establishments in Australia Truss bridges in Australia Steel bridges in Australia Murwillumbah railway line