South of Sydney there is a bridge to nowhere, built in the 1980s as part of the never-completed Maldon – Dombarton railway line. Intended to cross the Nepean River near the township of Maldon, only the approach spans on each side of the gorge were built before the project was cancelled, where they remain today. So how did I go about seeing the bridge for myself?
I started my hike from Picton Road, where I parked the car and loaded up my backpack with water and snacks, before wandering off into the dense bush.
After walking down into a gully then back out again, I found myself in a clearing.
There wasn’t any sign of the bridge at this point.
But I kept on wandering around.
And I eventually found a metal stanchion on the unfinished bridge sticking up above the tree line.
With my target in sight and the sun starting to go down, it was time to head back into the bush.
Eventually I came out into another clearing, but this time the metal stanchions were larger – I was on the right track.
I kept walking in the same direction, and finally – I found the bridge!
The 30 year old concrete still looks to be in good condition.
I headed up onto the bridge, and walked towards the dead end.
Fences prevented me from walking off the end.
Looking west from the bridge was another bridge – carrying Picton Road across the Nepean River.
And to the east was the advancing shadows of a setting sun.
With the moon now visible, it was time to head out of the bush before darkness fell, and find my car again.
Footnote
Here is the GPS tracklog on my adventure to find the unfinished bridge – it took me 30 minutes to walk the ~1.5 kilometres between my car and the bridge, using a Google Maps printout and the setting sun as a guide, and with a lot of wandering around in order to pinpoint which direction I was supposed to be walking in.
Also of note is how closely my return journey matched my inward hike – my sense of direction must have been working well that day!
A check of Google Maps shows a supposed unnamed road that I didn’t use – leading from Picton Road to the bridge, it looks to be a dirt track that passes through a nearby skydiving centre, then follows the unfinished alignment of the railway.
A construction photo
From the Macarthur Chronicle Facebook page – an undated photo showing the southern end of the bridge under construction.
Further reading
Wikipedia has more on the history of the Maldon – Dombarton railway line.
Has anybody seen the bridge ? Where’s that confounded bridge ?
Bridges being stolen for scrap metal is not unheard of:
http://www.citylab.com/work/2011/10/entire-bridge-stolen-scrap/272/
If you pay attention, you can see it from the train, which passes close by on the other bank of the river. The location of the triangular junction is quite obvious, and the bridge starts right beyond that. The largest standing section of the bridge is on the east bank where you were.
Last time I headed north on the XPT was was just able to pick out the brdige, but as you say – the ‘grandest’ section of bridge is on the other bank.
You can follow the proposed alignment all the way through the Upper Nepean State Conservation Area / Kembla State Forest (I assume that’s what the thick bush to the south east is called) all the way to one of the tunnel portals here:
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.4394009,150.7171221,415m/data=!3m1!1e3
I can’t find the portal at the other end of the proposed tunnel (which was apparently constructed) or the alignment for where it would have connected with the line on the far side of Dombarton.
Looking at the area in Google Maps, the nearest town (as the man walks, not the crow flies) appears to be Mount Kembla / Kembla Heights and the portal is about 8km hike down the fire roads from there.
According to this diagram, earthworks and drainage for the majority of the route were already completed before the project was abandoned:
https://neil2decade.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/maldon-dombarton.jpg
These photos by David Johnson show that section from 2003-05 can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gunzel412/sets/72157607633912343/
And some photos of the tunnel portals:
http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Avon+Tunnel
I’m not sure how well I would fare on an 8 km hike!
Based on the map linked to by Marcus, I would suggest the Eastern portal is the greyish area in the middle of this view…
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-34.4502836,150.7586373,628m/data=!3m1!1e3
No alignment because it come out right at the existing railway.
You’ve never done orienteering, have you? 🙂
Back in my scouting days I did – but that was a long, long time ago. I should buy a compass before my next attempt. 😛
Marcus, that was one of the most fascinating relics I have ever seen in Australia. Some great pics to. I was wondering what the camping is like near the bridge.
You’d have to bring your own water in, given that the river is at the bottom of the steep ravine. But I’m not sure how quiet the area would be, or who even owns it.
As a local for 11 years, I believe the land is owned by a corporation known as Bradcorp. There are currently mining leases all around this site. As soon as the leases have expired, this land is to be subdivided into housing estates. This applies to both sides of Picton Rd.
Spot on there, going by their website:
http://www.bradcorp.com.au/projects/projects.html
The area has also been proposed as an airport site:
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/mines-ground-airport-site-20131116-2xnhu.html
But today the land on the east side of the Hume Freeway at Wilton is already being developed for housing:
http://communities.lendlease.com/bingara-gorge/location/directions
[…] ‘bridge to nowhere’ over the Cordeaux River outside […]
Why not reuse the concrete sections , elsewhere ?
More information about the rail alignment and tunnel.
https://railknowledgebank.com/Presto/content/GetDoc.axd?ctID=MTk4MTRjNDUtNWQ0My00OTBmLTllYWUtZWFjM2U2OTE0ZDY3&rID=NDUxNw==&pID=Nzkx&attchmnt=VHJ1ZQ==&uSesDM=False&rIdx=MzQ4Ng==&rCFU=
Thanks – nice find.