Murray River railway bridge, Albury–Wodonga

The Murray River railway bridge is a heritage-listed Australian railway bridge over the Murray River on the Main Southern line south of Albury, New South Wales, and on the North Eastern line north of Wodonga in Victoria.

The bridge was designed by John Whitton and built from 1883 to 1884 by J. S. Bennett, with iron work supplied by Westwood, Baillie, England.

The bridge is owned by RailCorp, and maintained by the Australian Rail Track Corporation as part of its lease of the line.

During the 20-year period between 1873 and 1893, there was a massive programme of public works in New South Wales, particularly in expanding the road and rail networks.

[2] The total cost of the bridge was estimated at A£32,519.19.0, including:[1] Few major modifications have been made to the Albury Bridge with the most significant change probably being the opening of a Standard Gauge track linking Albury to Melbourne on 12 April 1962, with normal passenger services commencing on 16 April 1962.

[1] The Albury Murray River Bridge is a double-track 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, three-span wrought iron lattice underbridge.

It is a two span continuous lattice bridge with overhead transverse frames for stabilising the top flanges.

The eastern track has been modified in recent years by inserting a pair of large steel girders beneath the original transoms, with concrete piers replacing the timber piles supports on the southern approaches.

Apart from relatively minor technical works, repairs and strengthening, the Albury bridge is highly intact.

[1] Albury rail bridge over Murray River was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[1] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Albury rail bridge over Murray River, entry number 01020 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 28 May 2018.