Engineering Heritage National Marker

ENGINEERING HERITAGE NATIONAL MARKER: RED BRIDGE SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY PROFESSOR THE HONOURABLE KATE WARNER AC GOVERNOR OF TASMANIA CAMPBELL TOWN, THURSDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2017

Good morning everyone and thank you for inviting my husband Dick and me to attend and participate in this Engineering Heritage National Marker Ceremony.

I begin by paying my respects to the traditional and original owners of this land — to pay respect to those that have passed before us and to acknowledge today’s Tasmanian Aboriginal community who are the custodians of this land.

I acknowledge the Honourable Mark Shelton, Speaker of the House of Assembly; John McIntosh, National President Engineers Australia; Phil Gee, President, Tasmania Division Committee; Jane Lambert, Northern Midlands Council Councillor.

I have been asked to speak to you today about the role of early Van Diemen’s Land Governors and public officers in the development of Red Bridge here in Campbell Town.

As some of you will know, Red Bridge is an historic three span brick arch structure, completed in 1838 and in continuous use since then. It carries the Midland Highway over the Elizabeth River in Campbell Town, Tasmania. This highway forms the direct road link between Hobart and northern Tasmania, and is part of the National Highway network. While nearly all other towns have now been bypassed, the highway still runs down the main street of Campbell Town.

In May 1824, Colonel George Arthur was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, subordinate to the Governor of New South Wales. The availability of convict labour enabled Governor Arthur to embark upon a program of road and bridge construction and the route from Hobart to Launceston was seen as a priority.

Governor Arthur laid the foundation stone for the new bridge at a public ceremony held in October 1836. The construction of Red Bridge resulted from Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur’s emphasis on road and bridge construction in the colony. This bridge replaced an earlier flood-prone earth and log causeway located some 200m downstream.

The project was the responsibility of Captain Alexander Cheyne, Director-General of Roads and Bridges, whose name is remembered on the bridge. Alexander Cheyne was born in Scotland. He was apprenticed to an iron founder, and subsequently continued his studies with the Royal Engineers. He was commissioned in 1806.

Red Bridge was a major early project carried out by the Roads and Bridges Department under his direction. He selected the site for this bridge, upstream of the existing bridge.

Cheyne was opposed to the assignment system for convicts, under which they could become effectively domestic slaves for individual property owners. He favoured the new system of probation with gangs of about 200 workers and a gradual system of rehabilitation and incentives. This system was used for Red Bridge. He was dismissed by Franklin in 1841 after a disagreement about the assignment system being unjust, and delays in full implementation of the probation system. He appealed his dismissal to the Colonial Office in London, but his name was not cleared until 1844, after Sir John Eardley-Wilmot succeeded Sir John Franklin as Governor.

There are no extant original drawings, but the designer of Red Bridge is believed to be renowned convict architect and engineer James Blackburn. The design shows great attention to aesthetic and architectural details. Blackburn who was a civil engineer, architect and surveyor, was convicted for forgery of a large cheque and sentenced to transportation for life, despite commendatory character references. On arrival in Hobart later in 1833, he was immediately assigned to the Roads and Bridges Department. There, and later in the Public Works Department which absorbed it, he designed many and varied projects which were documented over Cheyne’s signature. The design of Red Bridge in 1836 is believed to be his work, and the attention to architectural detail in this bridge is typical of his work.

And now back to my time in Office. I can say, given our very frequent travels, Dick and I cross this bridge frequently and I am very glad to continue the Vice-Regal connection with it in that way.

Thank you.