This list documents historical bridges located in New South Wales, Australia. Road, rail and pedestrian bridges are listed. Generally bridges built before World War II (1939) have been included in this list.
Historical context Bridge construction in New South Wales started with the needs of the first settlers and continues through to the present day with advanced bridge design. The infant colony had limited expertise and limited materials. As time passed, techniques and materials were developed that allowed greater spans to be crossed and therefore expansion of the colony into otherwise inaccessible areas.
The NSW Public Works Department was under pressure from a cash strapped government to produce as much road and bridge work for as little cost as possible. The cheapest bridge was the timber truss which could be built with local timber.
All bridges are unique in the sense that the bridges were built using various technology, expertise, or materials or how they gained access to an area.
For example, at the time of early settlement, (1788 onwards) NSW was very isolated from the technological advances being developed in Europe and North America. Materials such as cast iron were unavailable to early colonial NSW bridge builders. NSW bridge builders had to rely on their own resourcefulness, bred of isolation, distance and the unique environment to make these bridges.
New South Wales's unusual environment, in general, results in unusual, and extreme river flows. This resulted in almost no water flow for most of the year with some flow each year and extreme floods around once a decade. Inland, the environment causes a low pressure system coming over the continent, due to a large high pressure of the Indian Ocean. This often occurs at summer, at which time it causes cyclone season, although it can occur at any time of year (but not inducing cyclones). At the coast, the cause is the "east coast low", which occurs at similar places at the eastern edge of a number continents, and sees the continent's normal high pressure systems becomes one large and stationary system, perhaps due to doldrums over the west coast's ocean. This phenomenon causes the global trade winds deviate, - inducing the low pressures at polar and tropical latitudes to connect along the east coast - producing a trough situation that mimics a tropical monsoon. An east coast low rain event can occur at any time of the year. Early settlers often replaced washed out bridges with a similarly rudimentary structure, only to see it also washed away in a heavy rain event. The government came to see that this was a major problem holding back economic development in New South Wales.
In solving these problems, colonial NSW embraced the innovations produced by others and adapted them successfully to the unique situations presented. There are examples of some fine 19th-century bridge engineering provided for the railway expansion, conceived mainly by British engineers working in the then isolation of the Australian inland. One examples of many of the newer European techniques that were used was the idea of the cable-stayed bridges.
Australia developed around coastal communities with rudimentary road systems to inland settlements. The early years saw early bridge technology limited very much to the 18th-century European technology of masonry arches and cast iron, the latter still in its infancy and not produced to any great extent in New South Wales.
NSW at the time of early settlement had an abundance of convict labour and had a need for rapid construction. In a country heavily timbered this led to basic timber structure bridges but as the colony gained stability, the government looked towards more permanent structures. Furthermore, as the skills for quarrying and stone dressing became available, masonry bridges began to be designed and built. As all metal materials had to be imported, iron bridges were rarely appropriate and were in any case still too novel for colonial application. Iron bridges were only used for major crossings on important corridors.
Timber truss bridges, and timber bridges generally were so common that NSW was known to travellers as the "timber bridge state".
The following list illustrates the development of New South Wales bridge construction techniques. The list commences from the earlier constructions through to the later developments.
New South Wales historic bridges Sorted by date
19th century BuiltNameLocationImageConstruction typeLengthUseIn useCommentsRefsCoordinates m ft 1832 Mitchell's Causeway Mount Victoria Temporarily closed Only known surviving stone causeway from the early Colonial period. 1833 Lennox Bridge Glenbrook Yes Lennox Bridge is the oldest stone bridge on the Australian mainland. 1836 Lansdowne Bridge Lansvale Yes Largest span stone arch bridge in Australia. 1839 Lennox Bridge Parramatta Road: Yes 1858 Pyrmont Bridge Darling Harbour Swing bridge Road: Yes At the time of its construction, one of the largest swing spans in the world and it was one of the first to be powered by electricity. 1861 Rozelle Bay Viaduct with a small hand-cranked swing-span Road: No Replaced by Blackbutts Bridge (1862–1903). 1863 Menangle Arch viaduct Rail: Yes Spanning the Nepean River and designed by John Whitton, it is the first large iron railway bridge erected in New South Wales. 1867 Picton railway viaduct Picton Arch viaduct Rail: Yes Spanning Stonequarry Creek and designed by John Whitton, it is the oldest arch stone railway bridge erected in New South Wales and the first one built for two tracks. 1867 Victoria Bridge Penrith Box plate girder Yes Officially, The Nepean Bridge and designed by John Whitton, it is the oldest surviving crossing of the Hawkesbury–Nepean River. 1867 Knapsack Viaduct Lapstone Arch viaduct Yes Designed by John Whitton, the viaduct was initially part of the Lapstone Zig Zag, subsequently deviated via the Glenbrook Tunnel. 1867 Prince Alfred Bridge Gundagai Warren truss Yes The first iron truss bridge in NSW. Main spans were used for local traffic only, after Hume Highway bypassed Gundagai. Timber spans subsequently declared unsafe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. 1869 The Great Zig Zag Arch viaducts Yes Designed by John Whitton, the zig zag was bypassed via the Ten Tunnels Deviation in 1910. Part of the railway line was subsequently used as a narrow gauge tourist railway. 1870 Bowenfels rail viaduct Bowenfels Arch viaduct No The stone viaduct (foreground) was built in 1870; and the brick viaduct (background) completed in 1921 that duplicated the railway line and superseded the 1870 viaduct. 1870 Marrangaroo Arch viaduct No A single-track stone viaduct was built in 1870; and a double-track brick viaduct completed in 1923 that duplicated the railway line and superseded the 1870 viaduct. 1870 Denison Bridge Bathurst Steel American Pratt truss Road Yes Now pedestrian only 1870 Mudgee Road Bridge Wallerawang Stone Road Yes (private) 1870 Coxs River Bridge Wallerawang Arch viaduct No A single-track stone viaduct was built in 1870; and a double-track brick viaduct completed in 1923 that duplicated the railway line and superseded the 1870 viaduct. 1873Hay BridgeHayLattice girder swing bridgeRoadNoDemolished when the new road bridge opened in 1973New bridges Main Roads September 1973 pages 2/3 1874 Windsor Bridge Windsor Road Yes 1881 Nowra Bridge Nowra Steel Whipple Truss Road YesClosed To Traffic in 2023 Only Walking and Cyclists Only 1881 Gladesville Bridge Drummoyne Road No Demolished when the new road bridge opened in 1964 1881 Dubbo Rail Bridge Dubbo Wrought iron lattice girder bridge Rail Yes 1882 Peel River Bridge Iron lattice girder Rail Yes 1885 Como Bridge Como - Oatley spanning the Georges River Lattice girder bridge Pedestrian, Viaduct (formerly Rail) Yes 1886 Three trestles Main North Line Timber Queen post truss viaduct on wooden trestles RailNo Three of five bridges builtBeardy Waters, Severn River, Bluff River 1886 Meadowbank Bridge Meadowbank Truss Bridge Rail Yes Now bicycles and pedestrians only. New John Whitton Bridge was built to replace the original bridge in 1980. 1888 Brewarrina Bridge Brewarrina Wrought iron lift bridge with timber beam approaches Road Yes Now pedestrian only 1888 Mulga Street Bridge Oatley Double stone culvert Road Yes Now covered with modern roadwork, the stonework is still visible from Myles Dunphy Reserve. 1888SunnysideTenterfield Timber Queen post truss viaduct on stone trestles railno Sunnyside rail bridge over Tenterfield Creek 1891 Murrumbidgee River railway bridge Wagga Wagga Wrought iron lattice truss Rail No Removed in 2007 1892 Yass Town rail bridge Truss Rail No disused 1893 McKanes Falls Bridge McDonald truss Road Yes 1895 Wilcannia Bridge Wilcannia Steel truss bridge Road No Accessible to public. Used to carry Barrier Highway and spans over Darling River. 1895 Tharwa Bridge Tharwa Timber Allan Truss Road Yes 1895 Hampden Bridge Wagga Wagga Timber Allan Truss Road Yes Closed to public. To be demolished in 2013 1897 Victoria Bridge Picton Timber Allan Truss Road Yes tallest trestle in NSW 1897 Wallaby Rocks Bridge (Turon River) Wallaby Rocks Allan timber truss Road Yes 1898 Hampden Bridge Kangaroo Valley suspension with sandstone turrets Road Yes 1898 Morpeth Bridge Morpeth Allan truss Road Yes
20th century BuiltNameLocationImageConstruction typeLengthUseIn useCommentsRefsCoordinates m ft 1901 Hinton Bridge Hinton Allan truss Road Yes 1901 De Burghs Bridge West Pymble Road No Replaced by new road bridge in 1967. Old bridge destroyed by bushfires in January 1994 1902 Gundagai Rail Bridge Gundagai Timber Howe deck trusses Rail No over Murrumbidgee River 1902 Clifford Love Bridge Lane Cove West Steel Arch 150 492 Great North Walk yes over the Lane Cove River 1903 St Albans Bridge St Albans DeBurgh timber truss Road Yes 1903 Maldon suspension bridge Road No 1911 Scabbing Flat Bridge Dubbo Timber Dare-type truss Road Yes 1914 Mungindi Bridge Mungindi Road Yes To be replaced by a new bridge which is under construction 1916 Rawsonville Bridge Dubbo Timber Dare-type truss Road Yes 1918 Fullers Bridge Chatswood West Road Yes 1924 Mulwala Bridge Mulwala Steel Pratt Truss Road Yes 1924 Roseville Bridge Road No Replaced by new road bridge in 1966. Used as a pedestrian bridge until it was demolished in 1974. 1927 Subway Lane bridge Homebush Rail Yes 1929 Tom Uglys Bridge Blakehurst Truss bridge Road Yes 1932 Sydney Steel through arch bridge Road, rail, pedestrian and bicycle Yes 1932 Grafton Grafton Bascule Yes 1935 Ryde Bridge Ryde Lift bridge Road Yes 1936 Kindee Bridge Kindee suspension Road Yes Crosses Hastings River near Long Flat 1939 Long Gully Bridge Northbridge Concrete arch Road Yes Rebuilt and replaced the 1892 bridge
Allan type truss The Allan truss bridge is named after Percy Allan, a famous Australian engineer who designed this bridge type. His design consisted of vertical and diagonal arrangements comprising a combination of timber and iron elements. The timber elements were designed to be in compression and the iron elements in tension. Allen's design followed extensive testing of Australian hardwoods by Prof. Warren and his early engineering students at Sydney University. The timber used was mostly ironbark because of its high strength. Other features of Allan's truss design included design to minimize later maintenance and/or replacement of elements. For this reason the trusses were built in pairs to facilitate work on a particular element without requiring the whole bridge to be supported, as was the case with previous timber designs. Allan's design was very cost-effective.
The Hampden Bridge in New South Wales Australia was the first of a larger style bridge to be built on Percy Allan’s design with the Tharwa Bridge pre-dating it.
Dare type truss