Timber Truss Road Bridges A strategic approach to conservation Bridge list update Abercombie Bridge, Abercombie River, south of Bathurst. Allan truss bridge Background What’s changing? The NSW Government manages most of the state’s The government is committed to keeping our timber truss remaining timber truss road bridges. These bridges have bridges safe, strong and serviceable. The list of bridges high individual and collective heritage significance because recognised within the Strategy has been reviewed and of impact they had on the state’s economic and population updated based on experience gained over the past six years development and the world leading bridge design they in implementing the Strategy. exhibited at the time of their construction. Seven bridges which are not able to be upgraded to service In 2012 the NSW Government published the Timber Truss the future road network and meet the needs of their Road Bridges – A Strategic Approach to Conservation communities will now be removed. Eight other bridges (the Strategy) following endorsement by the Heritage Council which are good examples of their type will be retained in of NSW and public consultation. The Strategy recognises the their place. important part timber truss road bridges played in shaping The new list of bridges for retention provides the best mix of NSW and the need for this history to be preserved. bridges to achieve a balanced mix of the diversity of timber The Bridges for the Bush initiative has supported the truss styles that function as part of the road network and implementation of the Strategy with upgrades to nine timber the communities they service. truss bridges to conserve their heritage value and improve their safety and service to the community. Additional bridges to be retained under Strategy State Truss Heritage Bridge name type Location Council Listed? Abercrombie Allan 70' Abercrombie River, South of Bathurst, Bathurst Regional no 1 & 90' Goulburn Road 2 Beckers De Burgh Webber’s Creek at Dunn’s Crossing, Mount Singleton yes 91’ Thorley – Gresford 3 Bulga Dare Wollombi Brook, Putty Road Singleton yes 104' Cooreei Dare Williams River at Dungog, Stroud Hill Road Dungog yes 4 91' 5 Crankies McDonald Coolumbooka River at Crankies Plains, Snowy Mountains Regional yes 75' Cathcart Road 6 Gillies De Burgh Wilderness Road over Black Creek Cessnock no 70' near Rothbury 7 Junction, Dare 70' Rouchel Road near Upper Rouchel Upper Hunter no Rouchel Brook (near Scone) Allan 70' Murray River at Tooleybuc, Tooleybuc Road Murray River, NSW and yes 8 Tooleybuc Swan Hill Rural City, Victoria Bridges to be removed from the listing in the Strategy and removed from service State Truss Heritage Bridge name type Location Council Listed? 9 Carrathool Allan 70' Murrumbidgee River, Carrathool – Carrathool and yes Carrathool Road Murrumbidgee 10 Cobram De Burgh Murray River at Barooga, Berrigan – Berrigan, NSW and Moira: yes 104' Cobram Victoria 11 Colemans Dare Leycester Creek at Lismore, Union Street Lismore yes 104' 12 Paytens Allan 90' Collets Crossing, Lachlan River near Forbes Forbes no – Paytens Bridge Road 13 Rawsonville Dare 91' Minore, Macquarie River, Mitchell Hwy – Dubbo no Rawson 14 Swan Hill Allan 90' Murray River at Swan Hill, Swan Hill Road Murray River, NSW and yes Swan Hill Rural City, Victoria 15 Warroo Dare Lachlan River, Condobolin – Warroo Forbes no 70' Old PWD truss bridge at St Albans prior to the current de Burgh truss bridge. Bridges proposed to be retained and removed under the review Tweed Heads Y S UM W ME R H LA C N I D F I W C A A P Y Lismore ER HWY XN 11 C U ARN ARVON R H B W C Y Colemans Bridge A S T L E Y R W E H C A I F G I H C M H DIR H WY A Y Moree P W W I G T Y G C WY H DI R G E H W W L Y Y L D H G IR W W YD H Y IR Briner BridgeW H Y W Y Walgett Grafton Y I HW ILAR O Bourke KAM TAMWORT H LL W -YETMAN RD A AY F R E T Armidale A Y W W H Coffs Harbour D N A L Y G W N E H W Y E T N I C R NEWELL HWY E V L I S O XLE Y H W Tamworth Y Cobar Nyngan HW Y Port Macquarie BARRIER N E WY RR IER H W BA E N G L PACIFIC HWY A N D H Rawsonville Bridge W Y Broken Hill Beryl Bridge Junction Bridge Taree 13 Dubbo 7 Beckers Bridge Monkerai Bridge Glennies Creek Y 4 A Coorei Bridge W Scabbing Flat 2 N A M Clarence Town Bridge D I K Bulga Bridge S 3 I L V Dunmore Bridge E 6 R Gillies Bridge C I T Hinton Bridge Y H W MITCHELL HWY Y Parkes Wallaby Rocks Morpeth Bridge Newcastle Warroo Bridge Orange St Albans Bridge 15 Paytens Bridge Bathurst 12 Gosford Cowra McKanes Bridge Galston Gorge Sydney 1 Abercrombie Bridge Y KIDMAN WAY HW RN E T S E W D I NEWELL HWY Victoria Bridge Mildura M Carrathool Bridge Hay 9 Wollongong HUME HWY Rossi Bridge STURT HWY Narrandera Goulburn Wee Jasper Bridge STURT HWY Tooleybuc Bridge Nowra KIDMAN WAY Wagga Wagga 8 NEWELL HWY Swan Hill Bridge Queanbeyan 14 A.C.T. Deniliquin Junction Bridge Barham Bridge PRINCES HWY R C I VE R O CobramI Bridge N A B HWY B H Batemans Bay W Y 10 SN OW Y M O U MO NARO HWY N TA I N S H W Albury Y KEY Cooma bridges with no change Bega Crankies Plains bridges newly retained 5 0 50 100 150 200 Eden New Buildings Bridges Kilometres bridges to be removal from list Victoria Bridge, Stonequarry Creek, Picton. Allan truss bridge. Old Public Works Department trusses, (Old PWD) trusses, built from 1858 to 1886. These bridges were designed by William Christopher Bennett (1824–1889), and are an example of innovative and practical engineering in a time when large and long timbers were readily available and vast numbers of Monkerai Bridge bridges were being built. McDonald trusses, built from 1886 to 1893. These bridges were designed by John Alexander McDonald (1856–1930) to address the increasing weight of heavy loads being transported on NSW roads, and to take advantage of the extensive testing of timber properties which had occurred Galston Gorge Bridge at the University of Sydney in 1886. Allan trusses, built from 1893 to 1929. These bridges were designed by Percy Allan (1861–1930) to address the fact that the large and long timbers required for the Old PWD and McDonald truss designs were no longer readily available. Allan also introduced innovations aimed at improving the ease Morpeth Bridge of maintenance of timber bridges. De Burgh trusses, built from 1899 to 1905. These bridges were designed by Ernest Macartney de Burgh (1863–1929) to address the fact that materials other than timber had become increasingly available and economical. The de Burgh truss includes the greatest variety of materials found in any of the Beckers Bridge NSW timber truss bridges. Dare trusses, built from 1905 to 1936. These bridges were designed by Henry Harvey Dare (1867–1949), and have the simplest geometry to allow the easiest replacement of individual timbers of any of the five truss types. Bulga Bridge Timber Truss Road Bridges Identifying the best bridge Managing these bridges candidates for conservation Since the Strategy was developed, considerable work has been done on better understanding the structural Transport for NSW and heritage experts considered both capabilities of the various different truss types and operational and heritage criteria to identify which timber strengthening methods available which conserve heritage truss bridges had the fewest operational constraints and the values while also providing adequate capacity and meeting highest level of heritage significance. road safety standards. Because of this recent work, some The 2012 assessment identified 26 timber truss road bridges previously considered unviable can now be made bridges that met or could be upgraded to meet the viable for retention with suitable heritage sympathetic operational needs of the communities they service. In 2019, strengthening works carried out to ensure operability. based on the lessons from six years of implementation, The review of the list of bridges to be kept has been done seven of the originally identified bridges were removed from to ensure the retained bridges can continue to fulfil network the list of retained bridges and replaced with eight newly requirements. Bridges must provide safe access for all users, assessed bridges. The bridges now listed in the Strategy including pedestrians, car drivers, agricultural vehicles reflect the history and diversity of timber truss styles while and freight. balancing the current and future transport needs and heritage conservation. Meeting the needs of those that use the bridges is central to the continuing role and use of the bridges within What do the changes mean for their communities. All bridges for retention are able to be sympathetically the bridges? upgraded and strengthened to accommodate network The bridges added to the retained list will be progressively safety and operational needs without compromising their added to the State Heritage Register (if not already state heritage values. listed), and restored and upgraded as necessary to meet the ongoing transportation needs of local and regional communities, while also conserving heritage significance. Those bridges that have been removed from the list will be progressively replaced and removed, with appropriate heritage interpretation being installed. Bridge types Five types of timber truss road bridges were built in NSW from the 1860s to 1936, Old Public Works (Bennett), McDonald, Allan, De Burgh and Dare, named after the Engineers who designed the truss type.