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List of road–rail bridges

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Road-rail bridges are bridges shared by road and rail lines, as an economy measure compared to providing separate bridges.

Road and rail may be provided with separate tracks, so that trains may operate at the same time as cars (eg the Sydney Harbour Bridge. With Truss bridges, the rail track can be above the roadway (or vice versa)

Alternatively, road and rail share the same track, and road traffic must stop when the trains operate, like a level crossing.

Afghanistan

Current

Former

Paringa Bridge showing bicycle path on former railway through the middle

[1] [2]

Alberta

British Columbia

Quebec

Ontario

Fiji

On Viti Levu the CSR Company was obliged to provide road-rail bridges when it built bridges for the Cane Trains to their sugar mills, eg the two largest bridges over the Ba and Sigatoka Rivers; though many are now rail only as a separate road bridge has been built.

The Ba Bridge (550 ft; 170 m) has 19 spans, 17 standard spans (30 ft; 9 m) and a short span at each end; and has been rail only for many years. The Sigatoka Bridge (810 ft; 245 m) has 27 spans. Both bridges are prone to hurricane damage due to extra flow of water; the Ba Bridge often disappears under water but is not always damaged (see Cane Trains).

Current

Former

  • Rakaia - Separated in 1939
  • Seddon - Awatere River - was two level, road under rail (road bridge built alongside, was opened October 2007).
  • Waitaki - Separated around the late 1950s
  • Rødberg bridge carried the now closed Numedalsbanen to its terminus in Rødberg and the highway continuing to Geilo over Upsetelva in the center of Rødberg. The rails are still in place, but covered by tarmac. There has been no rail traffic on Numedalsbanen since 1988. The railway is in the road, so car traffic had to stop when trains were passing.
  • Bruhaug bridge, also on Numedalsbanen carried both the railway and local car traffic over the river Numedalslågen. The road surface is wood.
  • Hølendalen bruer, near Moss. Motorway and railway, parallel separate bridges.
  • Bridge connecting Duluth, MN and Oliver, WI. Rail on upper deck, road on lower deck.
King George V Bridge
King George V Bridge showing the road and railway
  • Britannia Bridge Robert Stephenson's famous bridge across the Menai in Wales. Rebuilt as a road and rail bridge after the fire in 1970.
  • Isle of Sheppey Kingsferry road and rail bridge. Built in 1960, until 2006 this was the only road crossing to the island. The bridge opens 20 times each day.
  • Connel Ferry Bridge, near Oban, Scotland, was formerly shared road-and rail until the railway was closed in the 1960s. Significant for being a cantilever bridge.
  • Porthmadog, Porthmadog, Wales, on the Welsh Highland Railway, formerly shared by this narrow gauge line and the main road through the town. The restored line (and shared bridge) is expected to re-open around 2009.
  • Amu Darya Bridge is the first real bridge between Khorezm and Karakalpakstan and opened March 2004. It only has one track with the rails embedded into tarmac, used for trains and cars, one direction at a time, and is 681 m long. It now doubles the pontoon bridge that was the only link between Khorezm and the rest of Uzbekistan.

See also

References