News has been going around about the demolition of the Prince Alfred Bridge in Gundagai, Australia, for 40 years of abandonment has led to deterioration to a point where rehabilitation is impossible and the structure is hazardous. Little do we realize that Gundagai had not only one viaduct, but three!
To summarize, after the construction of the original wooden viaduct to accommodate the Hume Highway in 1867, another wooden trestle was built by the American Bridge Company in 1902. The trestle, which accommodated railroad traffic for many decades featured Howe lattice deck truss spans, and over the Murrumbidgee River, a combination of a Parker through truss main span and steel girder approach spans. The railroad trestle curved under the Prince Alfred Viaduct before crossing the main river. These two bridges ran parallel until the Sheahan Viaduct was constructed in 1977 and traffic was shifted from the Prince Alfred onto this bridge.
To get a better idea what these bridges looked like, I’ve enclosed two videos that show the tour of all three in Gundagai. Each one contains some information and photos about the bridges and why they were constructed. It serves as a memorial for the Prince Alfred which is being torn down at the time of this release. The project is expected to be completed by December. Yet it also honors the other two in hopes that some day, they will become a monument that will depict the toil and tears needed to build something this long and this high over an area that is prone to flooding.
So without further ado, sit back and enjoy the two films. 🙂
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These bridges are in the running for the 2021 Bridgehunter Awards under the categories Endangered TRUSS and Bridge Tour Guide International. 🙂
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