Clackline Bridge

Clackline Bridge is a road bridge in Clackline, Western Australia, 77 kilometres east of Perth in the Shire of Northam. It is the only bridge in Western Australia to have spanned both a waterway and railway. The bridge was designed in 1934 to replace two dangerous rail crossings and a rudimentary water crossing. It has 18 spans over a 126-metre length, with a 1 in 20 slope and a horizontal curve radius of 400 metres.

About Clackline Bridge in brief

Summary Clackline BridgeClackline Bridge is a road bridge in Clackline, Western Australia, 77 kilometres east of Perth in the Shire of Northam. It is the only bridge in Western Australia to have spanned both a waterway and railway. The bridge was designed in 1934 to replace two dangerous rail crossings and a rudimentary water crossing. It has 18 spans over a 126-metre length, with a 1 in 20 slope and a horizontal curve radius of 400 metres. Planning for a highway bypass began in the 1990s, and it was constructed between January 2007 and February 2008. It remains in use as part of the local road network, and has been listed on both the Northam Municipal Heritage Inventory and the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s Register of Heritage Places. As of 2014, the bridge dimensions are recorded as 133. metres in length and 6 metres in width. It was also the stopping point on the Spencers Brook section of the Eastern Railway line, which opened on October 10, 1886, and linked Perth and Northam until its removal in 1981,: 7 passed between piers 16 and 17. The eastern end of the bridge is parallel to that former railway, at an angle of approximately 40 degrees to the bridge. The western end is at a distance of 75 metres between a distance between 75 metres and 8 metres between the bridge and the railway line.

The original spans were made up of seven rounded timber wandoo stringers, of at least 400 millimetres diameter, bearing on jarrah corbels, supported by jarrah half caps 600 by 150 millimetre in size. The timber decking was upgraded to a concrete slab that has been repaired a number of times, especially around pier 13. Some of the connecting bolts in the structure have been replaced, and a concrete approach was installed at the western end. In 2008, theBridge was assessed as being in a well-aintained condition. As As of 2008, it is only the bridge in WA to have crossed both a river and a railway line and a road, and to have a maximum span of 14 metres, and a maximum deck area of 119 square metres. There are 18 numbered piers, starting from pier 1 at the eastern end. Piers 14 to 17 are parallel to the railway alignment, at a 40-degrees angle. The approaches to thebridge were also widened, over a length of 150 metres to the west, and 60 metres to the east. The double tracks of the former Eastern Railway, which linked Perth to Northam, were removed in 1981.