The Murray River in south-eastern Australia has been a significant barrier to land-based travel and trade. This article lists and briefly describes all of the recognised crossing points. Many of these had also developed as river ports for transport of goods along the Murray. Now almost every significant town along the river has a bridge or vehicle-carrying cable ferry nearby.
The crossings are listed in order starting from the Murray Mouth and proceeding upstream.
| Image | Crossing | Coordinates | Location | Built | Description | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -35.5047°N 138.7892°W | Hindmarsh Island-Goolwa | 2001 | The controversial bridge replaced a ferry in March 2001 | ||||
| Narrung Ferry | -35.5128°N 139.1881°W | Narrung | |||||
| Wellington Ferry | -35.3308°N 139.3856°W | Wellington | |||||
| Tailem Bend Ferry | -35.2572°N 139.4522°W | Tailem Bend-Jervois | |||||
| -35.1475°N 139.3092°W | Murray Bridge | 1979 | |||||
| Murray Bridge | -35.1153°N 139.28°W | 1927 | Railway bridge | Adelaide-Wolseley railway line | |||
| -35.1153°N 139.28°W | 1879 | Shared road and rail bridge from 1886 until separate rail bridge built | |||||
| Mannum Ferry | -34.9103°N 139.3186°W | Mannum | Two parallel ferries | ||||
| Purnong Ferry | -34.8547°N 139.6167°W | This is the narrowest crossing in South Australia | |||||
| Walker Flat Ferry | -34.7536°N 139.5689°W | Walker Flat | |||||
| Swan Reach Ferry | -34.5642°N 139.5972°W | Swan Reach | |||||
| Old Blanchetown Bridge | -34.3453°N 139.6172°W | Blanchetown | 1963 | The first major prestressed concrete highway bridge in South Australia. | Replaced a ferry crossing established in 1869. In the 1990s it was found to not be structurally sound enough to safely carry B-double trucks. Until a new bridge could be built, these were diverted from near Monash via Morgan on the Goyder and Thiele Highways to rejoin the Sturt Highway at Gawler, thus travelling further but avoiding the Kingston and Blanchetown bridges. | ||
| Blanchetown Bridge | -34.3453°N 139.6172°W | 1998 | Incrementally launched post tensioned concrete box-girder bridge, built by York Civil.[1] | Replacement bridge on the Sturt Highway immediately north of the 1963 bridge. | |||
| Morgan Ferry | -34.0386°N 139.6733°W | Morgan | |||||
| Cadell Ferry | -34.0256°N 139.7625°W | Cadell | |||||
| Waikerie Ferry | -34.175°N 139.9869°W | Waikerie | |||||
| Kingston on Murray bridge | -34.2269°N 140.3664°W | Kingston on Murray | 1969 | Sturt Highway A bridge replaced a ferry | |||
| Berri Bridge | -34.2894°N 140.5997°W | Berri | 1997 | A bridge replaced two ferries | |||
| Lyrup Ferry | -34.2522°N 140.6483°W | ||||||
| -34.1808°N 140.7758°W | Paringa-Renmark | 1926 | Sturt Highway, liftspan bridge - one lane of traffic each way with pedestrian/bike path in the middle on the former railway alignment. |
As the ferries are registered as boats, each one has a name, usually named after a waterbird. As of August 2024, the ferry names are:[2]
The south bank of the river forms the border between these two states and former colonies, so in many cases there is a town on each side of the river. If two towns are named in this list, the Victorian one is first for clarity and consistency.
Most of the bridges downstream of Echuca are liftspan bridges to enable paddlesteamer traffic to pass underneath even in times of high water flow.
The Hume, Newell and Sturt Highway bridges are owned and managed by the Federal Government. The others are the responsibility of New South Wales and Victoria.
| Image | Crossing | Coordinates | Location | Built | Description | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -34.1139°N 141.9881°W | Yelta to Curlwaa | 1928 | 235 metres (771 ft) long, single lane lift bridge | ||||
| -34.1831°N 142.1733°W | 1985 | ||||||
| Robinvale-Euston Bridge | -34.5778°N 142.7675°W | Robinvale to Euston | 2006 | Replaced a single-lane lift-span road/rail bridge that was opened in 1927 as part of the abandoned Lette railway line.http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/majorconstructionprojectsregional/murrayriverbridges/robinvaleeuston. | |||
| -35.0303°N 143.3353°W | 1925 | timber and steel truss, single-lane restriction on lift span | |||||
| Nyah Bridge | -35.1728°N 143.3917°W | 1941 | 104 metres (341.2 ft), central lift span | ||||
| -35.2136°N 143.5086°W | Speewa | Two-car capacity, 8 tonne (8.8 t) load limit. Upstream is a private ferry to Beveridge Island (part of Victoria); it crosses a Little Murray anabranch, but that is now the main navigable channel. | |||||
| -35.3378°N 143.5628°W | 1896 | Two lanes except central lift span; 116 metres (380.6 ft) | |||||
| Gonn Crossing Bridge | -35.5036°N 143.9567°W | 1926 | 103 metres (338 ft) Lift-span road/rail bridge, opened as part of the Stony Crossing railway line; road only since the railway closed in 1964. | ||||
| -35.6306°N 144.1247°W | 1904 | liftspan bridge, 99 metres (325 ft) | |||||
| Dhungala Bridge | -36.1122°N 144.7439°W | 2022 | 622m (2,041feet)[3] Cobb Highway crossing | ||||
| Echuca-Moama Bridge (road) | -36.1219°N 144.7536°W | 1879 | built as joint road/rail bridge, bypassed in 2022, local traffic only | ||||
| Echuca-Moama Bridge (rail) | -36.1219°N 144.7536°W | 1989 | rail | ||||
| Barmah Bridge | -36.0189°N 144.9553°W | 1966 | 168 metres (551.2 ft) replaced ferry[4] | ||||
| -35.8139°N 145.5567°W | 1895 | originally a road/rail bridge | |||||
| Edward Hillson Bridge | -35.8131°N 145.5589°W | 1987 | Newell Highway 212 metres (695.5 ft) long, 12 metres (39.4 ft) wide | ||||
| -35.9158°N 145.6692°W | 1902 | Old liftspan timber truss bridge (now pedestrian only) | |||||
| Cobram-Barooga Bridge | -35.9161°N 145.6692°W | 2006 | New concrete bridge built immediately upstream of the old bridge | ||||
| -36.0086°N 145.9992°W | 1939 | Weir Road, one lane along the weir wall - originally designated as a stock route | |||||
| Yarrawonga Rail Bridge | -36.0081°N 145.9997°W | 1989 | railway bridge, replaced earlier wooden bridge and earthen embankment | ||||
| -36.0056°N 146.005°W | 1924 | Crosses Lake Mulwala, 488 metres (1,601 ft) | |||||
| John Foord Bridge | -36.0069°N 146.3953°W | 1892 | retained for local traffic | ||||
| Federation Bridge | -35.9856°N 146.4111°W | 2005 | Two lanes wide and 195 metres (639.8 ft) long, with a 95 metres (311.7 ft) approach bridge on the NSW side. https://web.archive.org/web/20050615143616/http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/constructionmaintenance/majorconstructionprojectsregional/murrayriverbridges/corowabridge/index.html | ||||
| John Conway Bourke Bridge | -35.9936°N 146.6208°W | 2001 | Commemorates the first carrier of mail from Sydney in 1838 to what would later be called Melbourne[5] | ||||
| Lincoln Causeway/Union Bridge | -36.0913°N 146.9065°W | 1961 (though first bridge opened 1861[6]) | 4 lanes, 92 metres (301.8 ft) long, widened 1990 | ||||
| -36.0997°N 146.9093°W | 1888 | Originally double track - one Broad gauge plus one Standard gauge. Broad gauge track disconnected following conversion of the North East Victorian broad gauge line to standard gauge in 2010. | |||||
| Spirit of Progress Bridge | -36.1005°N 146.9095°W | 2006 | New Hume Highway bridge, named fafter the Spirit of Progress train.[7] | ||||
| Island Road Bridge | -36.0783°N 146.9557°W | Thurgoona to the Island | |||||
| Heywood Bridge | -36.0992°N 147.0219°W | 1984 | 124 metres (406.8 ft) long. Between Albury and here there is a bridge near the airport, to Bonegilla Island. | ||||
| Bonegilla Bridge | -36.1072°N 147.0322°W | 1941 | The Hume Weir wall, now closed to motorised traffic. single lane, 91 metres (298.6 ft) | ||||
| -36.0903°N 147.0586°W | 1930 | ||||||
| -36.0397°N 147.2656°W | Wymah | upstream end of Lake Hume, 2-car capacity, 11 tonne (12.1 t) load limit | |||||
| Jingellic Bridge | -35.9314°N 147.7014°W | Jingellic | 1959 | 156 metres (511.8 ft) | |||
| Tintaldra Bridge | -36.0456°N 147.9322°W | Tintaldra | 1959 | steel truss bridge 185 metres (607 ft) | |||
| Towong Bridge | -36.1239°N 147.9961°W | 1938 | 61 metres (200.1 ft) long | ||||
| Bringenbrong Bridge | -36.1689°N 148.0253°W | 1961 | |||||
| Indi Bridge | -36.2461°N 148.0347°W | 1961 | Connects the Indi homestead in NSW to the Upper Murray Road. Steel girder, with concrete piles and a concrete deck. Single lane, 3.7 metres (12 ft) wide.[8] | ||||
| Biggara Bridge | -36.2961°N 148.0381°W | 1951 | |||||
| Tom Groggin Bridge | -36.5221°N 148.137°W | Private bridges to Tom Groggin Station: low level for vehicles; higher-level suspension bridge for pedestrians when the other is flooded. |