Ofakim railway bridge 🌉

Hi,
On the way back from my short military reserve in Ze’elim I stopped to visit the Ofakim railway bridge, which is near Ofakim (small city in the Negev).

The bridge is a British steel bridge spans over Ofakim stream that was built as part of RafiahBeer Sheva railway line that was opened on 30th of July 1918. The line was part of the Railway system that the British has built during the Middle Eastern campaign on WWI.

The railway was completed after the British has conquered Israel, and the line was used for a connection between Israel and Egypt for 9 more years until it was closed due to lack of economic viability.

The bridge is 130m long and up to 12m high, with 8 spans. Two long steel trusses  are running between the 1.3 diameter double concrete columns, and holding smaller beams that supports the track. The beams and the trusses are both a maginificent work of rivets.

North of the bridge stands the remains of the temporary railway battery that used to cross the stream between the may 8th till the bridge was completed.

Israel train had suffered during most of the years from low budget, and tere almost no new lines built since the British Mandate time. Only in the last years new lines are built (here and here) One of those is the new lines is the Ashkelon–Beer Sheva railway, running not far away with a station in Ofakim.

The bridge has been renovated as part of Sayeret Shaked Park (an Israeli commando unit operated between 1955 and 1979 along the the border with Egypt. Shaked means almond). On the east side stands a memorial to fallen soldiers of the unit. The place was chosen as it is a main smuggling route between Gaza strip and south mount Hevron. During the time the unit operated, many ambushes has been placed under the bridge.

Take Care
Gad

For pictures of the bridge before the retrofit, you can visit Wikimedia

The sign on the entrance to Sayeret Shaked Park - Ofakim railway bridg

The sign on the entrance to Sayeret Shaked Park

A look on the bridge - Ofakim railway bridge

A look on the bridge

The way to the bridge and the memorial

The way to the bridge and the memorial

The truss edge bay - Ofakim railway bridge

The truss edge bay

The diagonals of the truss

The diagonals of the truss

Looking along the steel truss - Ofakim railway bridge

Looking along the steel truss

Along the bottom of the bridge

Along the bottom of the bridge

Closer look - Ofakim railway bridge

Closer look

The transverse beam secondary beam on which the slippers were installed

The transverse beam secondary beam on which the slippers were installed

Magnificat work of rivets - Ofakim railway bridge

Magnificat work of rivets

The wood slippers

The wood slippers

The wood slippers from above - Ofakim railway bridge

The wood slippers from above

  The renovated bridge

The renovated bridge

  Windows were installed to see the railway structure - Ofakim railway bridge

Windows were installed to see the railway structure

The remains of the railway battery north of the bridge

The remains of the railway battery north of the bridge

Ofakim stream down below the bridge

Ofakim stream down below the bridge

and on the other side of the bridge

and on the other side of the bridge

Sayeret Shaked memorial site

Sayeret Shaked memorial site

About Sayeret Shaked

About Sayeret Shaked

 New stone plates with the name of the 133 fallen, those looks like tents

New stone plates with the name of the 133 fallen, those looks like tents

more names on the other side

more names on the other side

The landscape around the bridge

The landscape around the bridge

An older memorial with the names of the fallen that looks like flowers that were cut down

An older memorial with the names of the fallen that looks like flowers that were cut down

The older sign of the memorial

The older sign of the memorial

3 figures with a torch and flags.

3 figures with a torch and flags.

The bracing between the bridge columns - Ofakim railway bridge

The bracing between the bridge columns

A new connection

A new connection

One of the bridge concrete columns - Ofakim railway bridge

One of the bridge concrete columns

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