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RAILWAY TRESTLE BRIDGE OVER MOONEE PONDS CREEK

Location

(rear of) CARAVELLE CRESCENT, STRATHMORE HEIGHTS, MOONEE VALLEY CITY

File Number

080

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

[1/1]
Bridge viewed from Boeing

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The railway trestle bridge was constructed by the Victorian Railways in 1927-29 to carry a new double track goods line over the Maribyrnong River. The new line enabled trains from all parts of the state, except Gippsland, to have direct access to the Tottenham marshalling and sorting yards. The viaduct is approximately 265 metres long between abutments and comprises two steel girders supported on ten steel framed towers.

Why is it significant?
The railway trestle bridge over Moonee Ponds Creek is of historical and scientific (technological) significance to the City of Moonee Valley

How is it significant?
Scientifically, the railway trestle bridge is significant on account of its large size, and for the adoption of unusual cost effective design features such as the use of two girders per span to carry the double track, the use of K bracing in the towers, and the use of broad flange beams as columns. Although slightly smaller than the comparable and contemporaneous Albion Viaduct in East Keilor, it nevertheless remains as a prominent element in the landscape. (Criteria D, E & F)

Historically, the bridge is significant as part of the infrastructure associated with the development of the Melbourne railway marshalling yards at Tottenham in the late 1920s. These yards were constructed to relieve congestion in the Melbourne Yard, located near the Spencer Street station, caused by the construction of suburban passenger platforms associated with the electrification of the suburban railway network. (Criterion A)

Group