The Coxs River railway bridges are two heritage-listed

railway bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...

s that carry the Main Western Line over the

Coxs River The Coxs River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury- Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands, Blue Mountains, and Macarthur regions of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Coxs River rises in Gardi ...

Wallerawang Wallerawang is a small township in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately northwest of Lithgow adjacent to the Great Western Highway. It is also located on the Main Western railway line at the junctio ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The bridges were designed by engineering staff of the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

and built in 1870 by day labour. The property is owned by

Transport Asset Holding Entity The Transport Asset Manager of New South Wales (TAM) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988''. It was previously a state-owned corporation known as the Transport Asset Holding Entity of ...

, an agency of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

. 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

By the early 1900s the original single track from Bowenfels to Wallerawang was inadequate for railway operations so plans were made to duplicate that section of line and at the same time ease the grades and flatten some curves. A major programme of similar works was begun in 1910 and continued until the mid 1920s but, because steel was an expensive import from Britain, the dominant material for bridging the many waterways was bricks, mostly from the 1912 State Brickworks at

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. The name o ...

and mostly in the form of brick arch culverts and viaducts. The quantity of bricks used in the programme was enormous and the period could be aptly described as the "era of the brick arch". Normally the clear span would have been bridged by a simple steel plate web girder, but the shortage of steel meant a continuance of brick arch construction. The Bowenfels to Wallerawang work was delayed until after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. This bridge is easily accessible via Springvale Lane which is off the

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gov ...

Road, south-east of the Wallerawang Power Station.

Description

The bridge is a significant technical accomplishment. It has seventeen stone arch spans totalling and is the longest masonry arch bridge ever built in Australia. Its main span of is also large, being the fifth longest of its type for its age (1870). It is also unusual in having an elliptical arch rib. The main span is flanked by stone

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es or

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

which extend above the deck. The treatment of the

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame, between the tops of two adjacent arches, or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

is unusual in that the radial joints of the arch rib are extended out to fill the entire spandrel space The bridge is thus an integral part of a section of the New South Wales rail system of immense historical significance.Register of the National Estate. The brick double track underbridge over Coxs River, 1923. The bridge retains its original fabric.

Heritage listing

As at 15 March 2006, this 1870 bridge is significant because it is one of the oldest stone arch railway viaducts in New South Wales. It is associated with

John Whitton John Whitton (1820 near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an English people, Anglo–Australians, Australian Railway systems engineering, railway civil engineer, engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Gov ...

the "father of New South Wales railways", it is an impressive sandstone structure on the outskirts of historic Wallerawang, its construction contributed significantly to the subsequent railway extension to Bathurst and on to western New South Wales and when John Whitton was denied funds to continue with the expensive wrought iron girder bridges he chose the stone arch viaduct for his major bridge works, particularly for the Zig Zag east of Lithgow and the extension west to Wallerawang. It is the largest of Whitton's stone arch viaducts. It is a fine representative example of a stone arch railway viaduct and it retains its original fabric. Wallerawang rail bridges over Cox's River 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. This bridge is part of the Bowenfels to Wallerawang duplication, the last of such works dominated by brick arch construction. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The duplication work contributed significantly to the railway extension to Bathurst and to the continued development of Western New South Wales, for land transport to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The brick arch was still the most common form of railway bridge in the early 1920s due to the shortage of steel after World War I. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. It is a good representative example of brick arch construction.

References

Bibliography

Attribution