Prince Alfred Bridge

Prince Alfred Bridge
Coordinates 35°04′12″S 148°06′31″E / 35.07°S 148.1086°E / -35.07; 148.1086
Carries Road
Crosses Murrumbidgee river
Locale Gundagai, Australia
Characteristics
Design wrought iron truss & timber beam
Total length 3,025 feet (922.0 m)
Width 21 feet (6.4 m)
Longest span 3 x 103 feet (31.4 m)
No. of spans 4
Piers in water 2
Clearance below 40 feet (12.2 m)
History
Constructed by Francis Bell[1]
Opened 17 October 1867 (Toll levied)[2]

The Prince Alfred Bridge is a wrought iron truss and timber beam road bridge over the Murrumbidgee River and its floodplain at Gundagai, New South Wales.[3]

The bridge was named for the then reigning Queen Victoria's son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was built to carry the Great Southern Road (now the Hume Highway) across the Murrumbidgee. It has existed in three forms, with only the main spans across the river itself being common to all three.

As opened in 1867 the bridge had a total length of 1,030 feet (313.9 m), consisting of three wrought iron truss spans each of 103 feet (31.4 m) across the river, two timber southern approach spans each of 30 feet (9.1 m), and twenty-three timber northern approach spans each of 30 feet (9.1 m), rising on a gradient of 1 in 30 from the level of the floodplain.[4][5]

It was the first iron truss bridge to be built in New South Wales,[3] and was designed by William Bennett, Engineer and Commissioner for Roads [6] and constructed by Francis Bell.[7] The trusses were assembled from iron work imported from England and the cast-iron cylinders for the main piers were cast at the Fitzroy Iron Works at Mittagong.[8][9] The pin-jointed Warren truss section is the second-oldest metal truss bridge in Australia.

After the opening, work continued with construction of the rest of the high-level bridge with work expected to finish within eight months.[10] The second configuration of the bridge was built by the twenty-three northern approach spans being replaced by a much longer structure which spanned the full width of the floodplain.[11][12] It consisted of 105 timber spans varying from 15 feet (4.6 m) to 30 feet (9.1 m) long, but as far back as 1932 the details of this configuration of the bridge had been lost, and no further details are known, other than the fact that it was 12.2 m longer than the bridge which replaced it.[4][13]

In 1896 the third configuration of the bridge was completed. The northern spans and southern approach spans were all replaced. The northern spans were replaced by seventy-five spans of 35 feet (10.7 m) and one of 28 feet (8.5 m), one of the longest timber beam bridges in Australia.[14] The alignment of this new approach was slightly to the west of the previous (second) northern approach. The two southern spans of 30 feet (9.1 m) dating from 1865 were replaced by one span of 35 feet (10.7 m) and one of 28 feet (8.5 m) on the same alignment as the previous southern approach spans.

In addition a side ramp was built on the western side in 1896, leading down from the bridge six spans north of the main spans down to ground level of the floodplain beneath the approach spans, as it had already become necessary to reduce wear and tear on the timber approach spans.[15][16] After the 1896 reconstruction the bridge had a total length of 3,025 feet (922.0 m), and remained the longest bridge in New South Wales until the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.[3][17]

In 1977, the 1,143 metres (3,750 ft) long Sheahan Bridge, replaced the Prince Alfred Bridge as the Hume Highway crossing of the Murrumbidgee River.[18] This bridge was duplicated in 2010.[19]

Since the opening of the Sheahan Bridge the Prince Alfred Bridge has served local traffic only, but since being superseded by the Sheahan Bridge the timber spans have deteriorated to such an extent that the 1896 side ramp has had to be reinstated, so that most of the northern approach is disused, and has deteriotated to the point where it is closed not only to vehicular traffic but also to pedestrians.

References

Media related to Prince Alfred Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ↑ "COUNTRY WORKS". The Sydney Morning Herald. L (8283). 21 December 1864. p. 8 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE". The Sydney Morning Herald. LVI (9150). 18 September 1867. p. 5 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 3 "Prince Alfred Bridge over Murrumbidgee River". Heritage and conservation register. Roads and Traffic Authority (NSW). 2004.
  4. 1 2 "The Murrumbidgee River Bridge at Gundagai, 1865-1932". Open Gov NSW. Dept of Main Roads. 3 (6): 86–89. February 1932.
  5. ↑ "NEW BRIDGE OVER THE MURRUMBIDGEE, AT GUNDAGAI, NEW SOUTH WALES". Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (125). Victoria, Australia. 26 November 1867. p. 12 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "THE GUNDAGAI BRIDGE". The Argus. Melbourne. 24 May 1867. p. 5 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "To the Editor of the Herald". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 December 1868. p. 6 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "LOCAL NEWS". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. XXII (2619). New South Wales, Australia. 28 February 1865. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "MR. FRANCIS BELL'S BRIDGE CONTRACTS". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. XXII (2599). New South Wales, Australia. 12 January 1865. p. 2 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "GUNDAGAI". The Tumut and Adelong Times. X (824). New South Wales, Australia. 26 October 1867. p. 3 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "GUNDAGAI". Australian Town and Country Journal. XIV (356). New South Wales. 28 October 1876. p. 8 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "No title". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. XXII (849). 7 October 1876. p. 1 (ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT TO THE SYDNEY MAIL) – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ Kendall, George Henry. "Bridge across the Murrumbidgee, Gundagai". State Library of Victoria.
    Kerry, Charles H. (Charles Henry) (1875). "1867 Prince Albert Road Bridge bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai, New South Wales, ca. 1886". later with houses behind
  14. ↑ "Historic Bridges of Gundagai" (PDF). Institute of Engineers Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2012. Historic Engineering Marker
  15. ↑ "Bridge Building in NSW – Iron Bridges". Main Roads. OpenGov NSW. XVII. Dept of Main Roads. September 1051. pp. 15–18.
  16. ↑ Gabriel, Charles Louis (1900). "Prince Alfred Bridge during the flood, Gundagai, New South Wales, 1900".
  17. ↑ "Prince Alfred Bridge, Gundagai, NSW, Australia (Place ID 703)". Australian Heritage Database. Department of the Environment.
  18. ↑ New South Wales. Dept. of Main Roads (1977), Sheahan Bridge over the Murrumbidgee River on the Hume Highway at Gundagai : official opening by The Hon. N.K. Wran, Q.C., M.L.A., Premier of New South Wales, at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, 25th March, 1977, N.S.W. Dept. of Main Roads
  19. ↑ "Sheahan Bridge". Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Nation Building program. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.

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