A new 64-tonne pedestrian bridge structure fabricated by Civmec has been installed over an active rail corridor in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, arriving on site as a single, fully welded piece after the company developed an alternative approach to transporting it.
The new Mothers Bridge structure was lifted into position on 23 July 2026 by a 400-tonne mobile crane during a scheduled rail possession, with installation completed in five hours.
Civmec delivered the structure as a subcontractor to Martinus Rail, Inland Rail’s construction partner for the Albury to Illabo section. Civmec’s scope covered fabrication, painting, fit-out, delivery and installation, with fabrication running from April to July at the company’s Newcastle yard.
Under the original design, the truss and main deck were to be fabricated in two halves, delivered separately and welded together on site ahead of the lift. That approach was driven principally by the transport height limits applying to the completed structure.
During fabrication planning, Civmec took an alternative method of supporting the structure in transit that reduced its overall transport height. The reduction was sufficient to allow the truss and main deck to leave the workshop as one complete, fully welded unit and travel from Newcastle to Wagga Wagga intact.
The change removed the on-site welding scope entirely. All welding was instead completed in controlled workshop conditions, where access, environmental control and inspection are more readily managed than in a rail corridor environment. It also reduced the number of critical activities requiring sequencing during the possession window, when work adjacent to live rail infrastructure is subject to strict time and safety constraints.
The structure was always intended to be lifted as a single piece.
Once open, the new bridge will sit higher than the existing footbridge it replaces and will include accessible pedestrian ramps, anti-throw screens and upgraded handrails, improving both accessibility and safety for pedestrians crossing the corridor.
The Albury to Illabo section covers approximately 185 kilometres of existing rail corridor between the Victoria and New South Wales border and Illabo, and involves clearance enhancements to bridges and other structures along the alignment. Martinus Rail was appointed to the works in 2023 under a contract covering both the Albury to Illabo and Stockinbingal to Parkes sections. Increasing vertical clearance across the network is a prerequisite for double-stacked freight operations, which allow containers to be carried two high and materially increase the capacity of each train service.
