Sunnyside Bridge Tenterfield

The Sunnyside rail bridge (bridge) is located between Armidale and Tenterfield on the former Main Northern Railway line, 12km north of Tenterfield, NSW. 

The bridge is a non-operational, state heritage-listed timber Queen Post Truss viaduct which crosses Tenterfield Creek.

The bridge consists of six queen post, timber under truss spans with a timber single track ballast deck top, and brick pier walls. 

Exposure to environmental elements has led to the deterioration of the timber bridge components, which now pose a risk to public safety. 

In December 2024, Transport and our maintenance partner, UGL Regional Linx, became aware of a partial collapse of Span 4 of the bridge over Tenterfield Creek. 

Following the partial collapse, Transport undertook assessments of the bridge which indicated that although certain structural elements remained intact, the structure was at a high risk of collapse.

Safety works were immediately planned in December 2024, which resulted in the installation of fencing, signage and security cameras.

Transport is currently undertaking further assessments and working with Heritage NSW and the EPA to determine next steps.

While no decision has been made on the future of Sunnyside Bridge, Transport plans to develop a heritage interpretation strategy which:

• identifies and highlights the heritage significance of the bridge; and
• captures community aspirations, values and opportunities for the bridge. 

Transport is consulting stakeholders and community from June 2025. For more information on the heritage interpretation consultation, please scroll down to the ‘Community consultation’ section.

Our next steps for this project include:

• complete archival recording 
• prepare Statement of Heritage Impact (SOHI)
• undertake engineering assessments
• consult community and stakeholders on heritage interpretation strategy 
• determine next steps

Transport is committed to keeping the community and stakeholders informed of project progress and the consultation process. We will do this using a variety of communication channels such as email, community notifications, social media, and our project website.

Transport will also hold community information sessions from time to time, either face to face in the local area or online. We will notify the community about these events ahead of time. Transport will also work directly with key stakeholders until the matter is resolved.

Have your say

We want to know what the Sunnyside Bridge at Tenterfield means to you so that we can develop a Heritage Interpretation Strategy which accurately reflects community sentiment and significance of the bridge.

 To help capture the historical values, personal stories and themes associated with the bridge, we have developed a survey and invite the community and stakeholders to share their thoughts. To complete the survey, you can: 

• submit your feedback online at bit.ly/sunnyside-HYS​​​​​
• email CRNnon-operationalbridges@transport.nsw.gov.au to receive the survey via email;
• call us at 1800 491 566 to request a phone survey; or
• complete the survey at one of our community information sessions detailed below.

Meet the team

We encourage the community to attend one of our community information sessions to find out more about the project, meet the team or complete the survey. The details are below:

Date and Time: Thursday, 19 June 2025

Session 1: 12pm – 2pm
Session 2: 5pm – 7pm
Location: Coles Supermarket, Henry Parkes Plaza, corner of Rouse St and Miles St, Tenterfield NSW 2372

• Sunnyside Bridge Tenterfield Community notification June 2025 (PDF, 220.42 KB)
• Sunnyside Bridge Tenterfield Community notification April 2025 (PDF, 266.73 KB)

• Sunnyside Bridge fact sheet and FAQs June 2025 (PDF, 454.26 KB)

We will share relevant reports as they become available.

We will share relevant presentations as they become available.