Sheahan Bridge is a dual carriageway bridge over the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

on the

Hume Highway Hume Highway, inclusive of the sections now known as Hume Freeway and Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of the route ...

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

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 ...

. It is the third longest bridge in New South Wales after the

Macleay Valley Bridge The Macleay Valley Bridge is a road bridge over the Macleay River and its floodplain near the settlement of Frederickton, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is part of the Pacific Highway (A1) new alignment which bypasses Kempsey and Fre ...

and

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

, which at is only slightly longer than the Sheahan Bridge's .

History

Northbound bridge

Sheahan Bridge was built by Transbridge in 1977 to replace the

Prince Alfred Bridge The Prince Alfred Bridge is a wrought iron truss and timber beam partially-disused road bridge over the Murrumbidgee River and its floodplain at Middleton Drive, Gundagai, Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. The ...

over the Murrumbidgee River and as part of a deviation of the

built to bypass

. It was constructed using steel-box girder with a single lane of traffic in each direction. It was officially opened to traffic by the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

on 25 March 1977. The bridge was named after local politician Bill Sheahan, who had held the seat of Burrinjuck in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

. It has three spans over the main river channel and a further 24 south of the river, forming a

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

over its flood-plain. At the time of completion, it was the second longest bridge in New South Wales and the longest bridge built by the Department of Main Roads. Originally having one lane in each direction, since the opening of a parallel second bridge in 2009, it has carried northbound traffic in both lanes. Prior to 2021, Higher Productivity Vehicles had been unable to use the bridge, due to the design capabilities and the standards used in 1977. Since March 2021, Higher Productivity Vehicles have been allowed to use the northbound bridge under permit.

Southbound bridge

The bridge was duplicated with a new bridge built immediately to the east of the existing structure by

Fulton Hogan Fulton Hogan is a large infrastructure construction, roadworks and aggregate supplier company in New Zealand, which is also active in wider Australasia. The company was founded by Julius Fulton and Robert Hogan in Dunedin in 1933. In 2013 the c ...

in 2008/09. The new bridge was officially opened to traffic by

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by following the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022. The Minister for Regio ...

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...

on 25 May 2009. Duplication of the bridge had been planned since 1995. It initially carried traffic in both directions while the 1977 built bridge was refurbished. From December 2009, it carried southbound traffic only.

Reference

External links

{{Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales Box girder bridges Bridges completed in 1977 Bridges in New South Wales Gundagai Hume Highway 1977 establishments in Australia

History

Northbound bridge

Southbound bridge

See also

Reference

External links