Bargo Railway Viaduct

Item details


Name of item:	Bargo Railway Viaduct
Other name/s:	Bargo River Railway Viaduct
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Rail
Category:	Railway Bridge/ Viaduct
Location:	Lat: -34.2366088361 Long: 150.5798607140
Primary address:	Main Southern railway 96.265 kms, Bargo, NSW 2574
Local govt. area:	Wollondilly
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Tharawal

Boundary:

The listing boundary is the area on which the bridge stands including supports, abutments and earthworks and the track formation leading to it for a distance of 20 metres in all directions from the construction.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Main Southern railway 96.265 kms	Bargo	Wollondilly			Primary Address
Remembrance Driveway (adjacent to)	Bargo	Wollondilly			Alternate Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
TAHE - Sydney Trains	State Government	20 Oct 98

Statement of significance:


	The bridge has significance because it is part of the major duplication of the Main South Railway, the use of brick construction compliments the natural environment, the duplication work contributed significantly to the continued development of South Western New South Wales, commercially through freight trains and socially through faster, better passenger trains and in the 'era of brick arch construction', 1910-23, there were around 90 railway sites where brick arches singly and in multiples, for clear spans from 6.1 m (20 feet) to 13.1 m (43 feet) were built. But this viaduct has a set of larger brick arches at 15.2 m (50 feet) clear spans. The bridge retains its original fabric and structure.
	Date significance updated: 16 Mar 06
	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 NSWGR
Builder/Maker:	Day Labour
Construction years:	1919-1919
Physical description:	A large brick arch viaduct consisting of five 15.2 m (50 feet) spans over the Bargo River.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Physical condition is good.
	Date condition updated:16 Mar 06


Current use:	Viaduct that carries the Main South Railway
Former use:	Aboriginal land

History

Historical notes:

Aboriginal land
This area was the traditional land of the Gandangara people (Garran ,1978, 530). The area is home to the Tharawal and Gundungurra people (Robinson, 2008).

Gundungurra or Gandangarra people lived in the Southern Highlands area, which includes Mittagong, for many thousands of years. People who spoke the Gundungurra language lived in the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the Goulburn Plains of New South Wales. They lived in small groups of extended family members, who were attached to particular areas of country (Di Johnson: 2004 in SHR database 5045486).

Gundungurra groups left archaeological evidence of their occupation throughout their traditional lands, including scarred trees where bark was removed for use as a boat or other object, grinding grooves on rocks where axes were ground, and occupation sites which include middens. Well-worn Gundungurra pathways on ridge tops were often the routes used as the first roads by colonists (Di Johnson 2004). Possibly this could have been the origin of the Old South Road... (SHR database 5045486).

One of the first places in the Gundungurra traditional homelands that most appealed to the Anglo-Celt settlers were the river flats of the Burragorang Valley (now flooded under Warragamba Dam). Even before the valley was officially surveyed in 1827-8, many early settlers were already squatting on blocks that they planned to officially occupy following the issue of freehold title grants. From the Burragorang Valley and using Aboriginal pathways, other valleys to the west were occupied and developed by the settlers with construction of outstations and stock routes. These cattle entrepreneurs were then followed by cedar-wood extractors and miners (Johnson, 2009, 4).

After Anglo-European settlers caused displacement of Gundungurra people, they often worked on farms or grazing properties within and adjacent to their traditional land (Di Johnson: 2004 in SHR database 5045486).

The Gundungurra traditional owners resisted the taking of their lands, and, relying on various laws of the colony at the time, continually applied for official ownership. Although their individual claims failed, in some kind of recognition of the significance of the designated tracts of land claimed, six Aboriginal Reserves (under the control of the NSW Aborigines Protection Board) were formally declared in the Burragorang Valley. Even after these reserves were revoked, many of the traditional owners remained, quietly refusing to leave their traditional homelands (ibid, 2009, 4).

Finally pushed into the 'Gully', a fringe development in West Katoomba from about 1894, the Gully community stayed together for more than 60 years until dispossessed of the Gully by the then Blue Mountains Shire Council so a group of local businessmen could develop a speedway that became known as the Catalina Race Track. The Gully people kept talking about areas of land they had walked in as children - the nearby Megalong and Kanimbla Valleys and the Burragorang Valley. They knew of the profound significance of these valleys for their parents and grandparents (ibid, 2009, 4).

Camden & the Cow Pastures:
The area is associated with the early history of the colony of New South Wales. Governor Hunter named it 'The Cowpastures' after cattle which had strayed from the Farm Cove settlement were discovered there in 1795. Due to the early European settlers, namely the Macarthurs, who established flourishing wool, wine and wheat industries here, the area is said to be 'the birthplace of the nation's wealth' (ibid, 2008).

Railways:
Bargo is located on the Main South line. The 'Great Southern Railway' originally opened from Picton to Mittagong via a loop line in 1867. In 1919, the Main South line from Picton was deviated to Mittagong to ease the grades. The new line virtually follows the line of the Great South Road taking the main line away from Thirlmere, Buxton, Balmoral and Hilltop and passing through Tahmoor, Bargo and Yerrinbool.

By the early 1900s much of the original single track railways in New South Wales had become inadequate for railway operations, particularly the busy Main Lines (South, West and North) through the Great Dividing Range. Plans were made to duplicate the tracks and at the same time ease the original steep grades and sharp curves, usually all achieved by deviation works.

It was a major programme beginning in 1910 and continuing to 1923. The dominant bridge building material was bricks, mostly from the 1912 State Brickworks at Homebush and mostly in the form of brick arches. This was due to (a) a general lack of expensive imported steel and (b) a long standing government policy to see local materials used as much as possible. Even for short spans, 6.1 m (20 feet) and 9.14 m (30 feet), where a simple steel plate web girder would have been the norm, brick arches were built.

The quantity of bricks used in the programme was enormous so the period 1910-23 could be aptly described as the 'era of brick arch construction'. Thereafter, locally produced steel, from Newcastle and Port Kembla, displaced the use of bricks for superstructures, but large quantities of bricks continued to be used for piers, abutments and wings walls.

In the duplication programme, that of the Main South was the largest. It had been duplicated to Picton by 1892, then from 1913 to 1922 duplication was extended to Cootamundra, a distance of 343 kms (213 miles), in sections but not always sequentially. For example the 52 km first section from Picton to Bowral was one of the last completed in 1919 whereas the 89 kms section, Bowral to Goulburn, had been completed in 1915.

A design policy of the duplication work was to eliminate level crossings, consequently there are as many underbridges and overbridges for roads as there are underbridges for waterways. Fast, safe, through running was to be the new standard for goods and passenger trains.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Modification of terrain-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Landscapes of institutions - productive and ornamental-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Building the railway network-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Rail transport-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Bridging rivers-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities.	Building settlements, towns and cities-National Theme 4
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Changing land uses - from rural to suburban-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Impact of railways on suburban development-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Impacts of railways on rural development-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	20th Century infrastructure-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	State government-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - administration of land-
7. Governing-Governing	Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities.	Developing roles for government - building and administering rail networks-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Monuments-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Developing cultural institutions and ways of life-National Theme 8
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life	Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities.	Applying architectural design to utlilitarian structures-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The bridge is part of the major duplication of the Main South Railway.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The bridge is readily accessible from the Old Hume Highway set in a natural environment.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The duplication work contributed significantly to the continued development of South Western New South Wales, commercially through freight trains and socially through faster, better passenger trains.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	In the ‘era of brick arch construction’, 1910-23, there were around 90 railway sites where brick arches singly and in multiples, for clear spans from 6.1 m (20 feet) to 13.1 m (43 feet) were built. These structures depend on the bricklayers skills. But this viaduct is one of only a few with larger clear spans of 15.2 m (50 feet) or more.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	A good representative example of brick arch construction.
Integrity/Intactness:	The bridge retains its original fabric and structure.
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.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	HERITAGE ACT 1977 ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) TO GRANT STANDARD EXEMPTIONS FROM APPROVAL I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales and under section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977: revoke the order made on 2 June 2022 and published in the Government Gazette Number 262 of 17 June 2022; and grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out the class of activities described in clause 2 Schedule A in such circumstances specified by the relevant standards in clause 2 Schedule A and General Conditions in clause 3 Schedule A. This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette. Dated this 29th day of October 2025 The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC Minister for Heritage For more information on standard exemptions click on the link below.	Nov 7 2025

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register	01024	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register
Local Environmental Plan	1991	23 Aug 91	119	07234

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Rail Infrastructure Corporation s.170 Register	2003		Rail Infrastructure Corporation		Yes

References, internet links & images

None

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045265

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