Paringa Bridge

The Paringa Bridge carries the Sturt Highway across the Murray River in Paringa, South Australia. Until 1982, it also carried the Barmera railway line.

Paringa Bridge
Eastbound view in February 2006
Coordinates	34°11′S 140°47′E
Carries	Barmera railway line (until 1982) Sturt Highway
Crosses	Murray River
Locale	Paringa, South Australia
Maintained by	Department for Infrastructure & Transport
Characteristics
Design	Vertical-lift
Total length	173 metres
History
Opened	31 January 1927
Closed	7 March 1984 (rail only)
Location

Designed by the South Australian Railways (SAR) and fabricated by Perry Engineering of Adelaide, the vertical-lift bridge opened on 31 January 1927.^[1][2] It was built as a road-rail bridge with both the Sturt Highway and Barmera railway lines using the same reservation.^[3] Maintenance costs were shared equally between the SAR and Highways department.^[4][5]

Subsequently, road lanes were added on either side to segregate the road and rail traffic.^[3] The last train crossed the bridge on 21 May 1982 with the line beyond Renmark formally closed on 7 March 1984.^[6] The railway tracks were removed in 1986 and the centre reservation converted to a shared pedestrian and cycle path.^[7]

As at September 2025, the vertical-lift span is opened twice a day for river traffic.^[8]