Suspension Bridge

Item details


Name of item:	Suspension Bridge
Other name/s:	Cammeray Bridge, North Sydney Suspension Bridge, Long Gully Bridge
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Land
Category:	Road Bridge
Primary address:	Strathallen Avenue over Tunks Park, Northbridge, NSW 2063
Parish:	Willoughby
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Willoughby

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Strathallen Avenue over Tunks Park	Northbridge	Willoughby	Willoughby	Cumberland	Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	This bridge has strong significance at both State and Local levels. Historically, it is connected with an important period in the municipality's progress and the growth and development of Northbridge as a suburb. The bridge's gothic turrets are aesthetically distinctive and they and the cement arch demonstrate a creativity of design in response to a unique technical problem. This bridge has strong significance as others of its kind are exceptionally rare in Australia. "The Suspenion Bridge is of State significance" (Statement of significance updated 9 August 2011: Roads and Traffic Authority S170 Register)
	Date significance updated: 26 Mar 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	W.H. Warren and J.F Coyle (engineers) D. Ross (architect)
Builder/Maker:	North Sydney Tramway and Development Company (concrete arch by Hornibrook Bros. & Clark Pty Ltd)
Construction years:	1892-
Physical description:	The original suspension bridge had a 500 ft main span supported by steel cables and steel hanger rods which were supported on ornate, Gothic sandstone towers and anchored into bedrock at each end of the gorge. The wooden deck carried two lanes of traffic plus two tram tracks and footways. Deterioration of the bridge from corrosion led to the replacement of the suspension design by an arch in the 1930s. The arch consists of two concrete ribs, peaking some 167 feet above the ground below. Supported on the arches are columns carrying the deck on 14 reinforced concrete beam slab spans. The concrete detailing was done in Gothic and Norman styles to reflect the Gothic sandstone towers, the main piers being given Norman castle features. As part of the reconstruction the roadway openings through the towers were increased to thirty feet, and walkway openings cut through the towers. The bridge has light standards supported by the concrete railings.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Physical Condition: The bridge is a landmark feature of the area and the twin turrets create an appropriate entrance to the suburbs of Northbridge and Cammeray. Both the original sandstone towers and the concrete arch structures are in good condition despite some minor blemishes from bleaching in the sandstone and vertical cracking in the cement railings. Archaeological potential: little, if any. The arch was supported during construction by timber trestles supported in turn by timber piles. As the area under the bridge has now been developed as playing fields with the creek carried in a culvert system, it is likely that any original piles would be well buried.
	Date condition updated:21 Apr 04
Modifications and dates:	Suspension system (which was corroded) was replaced by a concrete arch in 1937-39. Floodlighting was installed by Sydney electricity in 1992.


Current use:	Road bridge
Former use:	Tramway, road bridge

History

Historical notes:

The Suspension Bridge connecting Cammeray and Northbridge (then called Gordon's Estate) was built in 1889 by the North Sydney Tramway and Development Company to provide access to suburbs in the north. Taking three years to build, the ornate structure was designed to attract people to Northbridge and open it up as an elite residential suburb. Originally, this was the largest suspension bridge of its type in Australia and the 4th largest of its type in the world. The bridge opened in 1892, initially only open to pedestrian traffic but used as a tramway line onwards from 1909.

The bridge contains over 2000 tonnes of iron and steel and was built at a total cost of £100,000. The Depression of the 1890s interfered with the progress of the bridge as the project was temporarily abandoned. The North Sydney Tramway and Development Company went into liquidation in1893 and the originally intended tramway remained unconstructed. In 1912, the bridge was taken over by the State government and a tram service was run to Northbridge until 1936 when the bridge was closed down to be reopened in 1936 complete with a reinforced concrete arch (replacing suspension cables).
The Suspension Bridge drew attention to Willoughby because of its unique engineering qualities and Northbridge the suburb derived its name from it.The transferral of the bridge to the responsibility of the State marked a significant moment in the Municipality's progress.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	(none)-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Development in response to transport-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Suspension Bridge has strong historical significance and local and State levels. It has unique engineering and design qualities and constitutes an important epoch in the Municipality's progress. It can be linked to the growth and development of suburbs north of Cammeray and demonstrates a unique late Victorian masonry style. The bridge is intimately associated with the residential development of the area to the north of Long Gully, essential infrastructure which allowed the area's development to proceed in the late nineteenth century. The process of the design and construction of the arch is illustrative of an era in the history of bridge building in the Department of Main Roads (DMR) and of contemporary concern with aesthetic and historical landmarks and their preservation.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	The design of the arch demonstrates creativity in its response to a highly individual technical problem and in its aesthetic sympathy with the original towers of the suspension bridge. The bridge is a distinctive structure, both graceful and impressive, and situated in a highly attractive setting.
Integrity/Intactness:	Intact
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

The Suspension Bridge was identified in WLEP 1995 (Schedule 6 Heritage Items classified to be of State or Regional Significance) and the draft WLEP 2009 (which was gazetted as WLEP 2012 in January 2013) as an item of State significance (the Heritage Branch no longer recognises Regional significance). However, Council was directed by the Department of Planning and the Heritage Branch that until an item has been formally recognised by the NSW Heritage Council as being of State significance and listed on the State Heritage Register (SHR) an iten cannot be notated as being of 'State' significance.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Willoughby Local Environmental Plan 2012	I229	31 Jan 13
Local Environmental Plan	WLocal Environmental Plan 1995, Schedule 6	1995	17 Nov 95	141	7944

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Willoughby Heritage Study	1989	100	Jonathon Falk & Rodney Jensen		No
Pre-1948 RTA Controlled Concrete Slab and Concrete Arch Bridges in NSW	2004		Burns and Roe Worley		Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Written	Esther Leslie	1988	The Suburb of Northbridge: A Community History
Written	RTA - Heritage and Conservation Register	2004	Long Gully Bridge

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	2660227

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