Sodwalls, Solitary Creek Nos 3 & 4 Underbridges

Item details


Name of item:	Sodwalls, Solitary Creek Nos 3 & 4 Underbridges
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Rail
Category:	Railway Bridge/ Viaduct
Primary address:	188.025 & 188.316, Main Western Railway, Sodwalls, NSW 2790
County:	0
Local govt. area:	Lithgow

Boundary:

The boundary is the area on which the bridge is located including supports, embankments, track formation and structure and extends for a distance of approximately 20 metres in all directions from the structure.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
188.025 & 188.316, Main Western Railway	Sodwalls	Lithgow		0	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
TAHE - Country Rail Network (CRN)	State Government

Statement of significance:


	The No 2 and No 3 underbridges at Sodwalls are good representative examples of brick arch railway construction, being part of a series of brick railway bridges built in NSW in the 1910s and 1920s using locally made bricks as an alternative to more expensive steel bridges.
	Date significance updated: 19 Jul 10
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Engineering staff of the NSW Government Railways
Builder/Maker:	Day labour
Physical description:	The two 1915 bridges are both brick arches of clear span 9.14m (30 feet) with brick wing walls.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Good
Further information:	The bridges (nos 3 and 4) are two of 12 similar structures which cross Solitary Creek between Rydal and Tarana.CRN S170 Item 4280442 "Sodwalls, Solitary Creek Nos 3 & 4 Underbridges"Not located on the 2014 LEP, however may have been part of generic listing on the previous 1994 LEP "Main western line - railway items Newnes Junction to Sodwalls"Not confirmed as part of SHR Item 1053 "Rydal rail underbridges"


Current use:	Carries Main Western Railway line between Rydal and Tarana

History

Historical notes:

By 1900 some sections of the single track railway network in NSW were operating at or near saturation. These included the famous Zig Zag near Lithgow, the Main West from Emu Plains to Bathurst, the Main South from Picton as far as Harden and the Main North between Maitland and Muswellbrook. Also, the metropolitan railways were congested due to the combination of suburban and freight traffic. The solution was a series of deviations to ease the gradients, and double tracks (duplications) to increase traffic capacity. The programme of duplications and deviations began around 1910 and was largely completed by 1922. Some sections were not completed until the 1950s.As part of the duplication and deviation works, new bridges were required, with the principal material for new bridges and culverts being bricks. Steel was an expensive option (requiring importation from Britain) whereas the use of bricks complied with a long-standing policy to use local materials as far as possible to contain costs. The establishment of the State Brickworks at Homebush in 1912 greatly increased the supply of bricks in the early 20th century (Fraser, 1995).The period from 1910 to 1922 was dominated by the use of bricks. Thereafter, supplies of imported steel increased and BHP Newcastle was able to meet local demands for structural steel products, resulting in the cessation of the use of bricks for the construction of railway bridges (Fraser, 1995). On the Main West, deviation work began on both sides of the Blue Mountains in 1910, with the Glenbrook Deviation (1910-13) starting at Emu Plains, the 10-tunnel bypass of the Lithgow Zig Zag (1897-1910), and the section at Solitary Creek (from Rydal to Sodwalls) completed between 1910 and 1915.

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The bridges are part of the Rydal to Sodwalls deviation and duplication works which by-passed the 1872 steep single track railway line.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	At 9.14m (30 feet) clear span they are in the middle of the range from 6.1m (20 feet) to 13.1m (43 feet) for most brick arches.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The bridges are good representative examples of brick arch construction.
Integrity/Intactness:	The bridges retain their original fabric and structural integrity.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Don Fraser	1995	Bridges Down Under

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	State Government
Database number:	3150111

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