| Historical notes: | Bullenbong Creek Bridge crosses Bullenbong Creek near the junction of Old Man Creek, both tributaries of the Murrumbidgee River, on the Sturt Highway near Collingullie, approximately 44 kilometres west of Wagga Wagga. Originally the area was the territory of the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people, in whose language Wagga Wagga means 'place of crows'. Explorer, Charles Sturt travelled the whole course of the Murrumbidgee from its junction with the Tumut in 1829-1830. He noted that just west of Wagga Wagga's present site the flats bordering the river were extensive and rich, and being mixed with sand were well suited to agriculture. Pastoralism, horse and cattle breeding, wheat and fruit growing and viticulture have been the major activities of the region. The buoyant economic conditions and the desire for better grazing lands in the 1820s and 1830s stimulated settlement of the area and by 1849 several villages, including Wagga Wagga had been established. Collingullie was originally known as Mundowy and was proclaimed a village in 1899. (Swan, 1970, pp. xxi-xxiii, 3, 18-19, 23; Morris, 1999. p. 17)
When Surveyor-General Major Thomas Mitchell passed through the area in 1836 he found that 'a tolerable cart road' existed from one station to the other, so great was the migration of settlers along the river. Alexander Davidson and his family, Scottish immigrants, settled on the Bullenbong Creek in 1843 where they ran horses and cattle. It is reported that the Sturt Highway west of Wagga Wagga was first marked out when prospective settlers who were directed towards Bullenbong Creek by a stockman on the 'Wagga Wagga' run dragged a log behind the bullock dray to mark a track by which they could return. Early roads were merely bullock tracks and cattle routes and initially, steamers provided the main form of transport for stock and goods along the Murrumbidgee. It is likely that tracks developed along both the north and south banks of the Murrumbidgee. The track along the northern bank departed from the Great South Road at Gundagai and followed the north bank of the Murrumbidgee through Wagga Wagga, Narrandera, Hay and Balranald and the north bank of the Murray River on its way to the South Australian border. An 1858 Post Office Department map shows the postal route departing from the Great South Road on the southern side of the Murrumbidgee, at Tarcutta, and following the south bank of the Murrumbidgee River from Tarcutta to Wagga Wagga, where it crossed the river and proceeded along its northern bank to Balranald. A map of main roads proclaimed under the Local Government Act of 1923 appears to show the main route following the south bank of the river from Wagga Wagga to Narranderra and possibly to Hay where it crosses to the north bank. (Swan, 1970, p. 23; Morris, 1999, pp. 17, 32; Sherry Morris, Then and Now: 75 Years 1928-2003, RTA, Wagga Wagga, 2003, p. 2, DMR, 1976, pp. 37, 112)
Following the appointment of the Main Roads Board (MRB) in 1925, a new system of road classification was introduced whereby Main Roads were classified as State Highways, Trunk Roads or Ordinary Main Roads. The Board assumed full responsibility for all State Highways in the County of Cumberland and in the country and for all Ordinary Main Roads in the County of Cumberland. In 1929 the road from Wagga Wagga to Hay was proclaimed as a Trunk Road and in 1930 this length was named the Sturt Trunk Road in commemoration of Sturt's expedition down the Murrumbidgee River. In 1933 the road from Sydney to Adelaide through Wagga Wagga was proclaimed the Sturt Highway. The new highway comprised what had previously been a section of the Monaro Highway (now the Snowy Mountains Highway) from Lower Tarcutta to Wagga Wagga; the road along the south bank of the Murrumbidgee River from Wagga Wagga to Hay and that portion of the Mid Western Highway from Hay to the South Australian border. (Morris, 2003, pp. 6-7, 12)
Bullenbong Creek Bridge, a three-span skewed reinforced concrete beam structure, was built in 1942. During World War Two, bridge construction and road maintenance slowed due to shortages of materials and the priority given to defence works, so that only essential maintenance and construction work was carried out. The construction of Bullenbong Creek Bridge in 1942 probably indicates that it had been planned for some time and that its construction was urgent, most likely it replaced a very dilapidated timber bridge which was not considered able to last through the war (DMR, 1976, pp. 174,187, 220; RTA File: 14/468.1117).
Based on RTA bridge database records, reinforced concrete beam or girder bridges were the most common form of concrete bridge construction to 1948, with more than 160 extant. Within the general group of beam bridges, the main longitudinal members have had various configurations ranging from a simple set of rectangular beams cast integrally with the deck, through beams with curved soffits, to flat soffit decks where the edge beams also form the bridge parapet or sidewall. These bridges on the State's main roads and highways, constructed to replace high-maintenance and aged timber bridges or open crossings, embodied new standards of width, load capacity and alignment which were intended to adapt the State's road network to the increasing volume and speed of motor traffic.
Bullenbong Creek Bridge is likely to have constituted a substantial improvement in amenity when constructed. It provides a fairly high level crossing which would be reasonably flood resistant. The construction of the bridge on a skew reflects the changing relationship of roads and bridges in this period, where more advanced and flexible bridge technologies could cross streams on a curve, skew or incline, or combination of all three, allowing roads to follow a smooth alignment where previously lines of road were forced to bend to meet the straightest opportunity for a waterway crossing. (DMR, 1976, pp. 169-70)
Following World War Two, factors such as the increasing use of the Sturt Highway by semi-trailers and other heavy vehicles for long distance haulage; the establishment of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Electric Authority, Closer Settlement, particularly Soldier Settlement and the growth of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area led to the need for greater development of roads. As Wagga Wagga grew after the 1970s, towns such as nearby Collingullie, which had declined in the 1950s and 1960s, became important commuter centres. Major upgrading of the Sturt Highway was carried out during the 1970s, including new bridges and deviations. The Bullenbong Creek Bridge was widened in 1973. An inspection report in March 1974 noted problems with cracking in new construction joints in the decking and abutments, allowing water to run through. Bad scouring was also evident at the abutments following flooding. Apart from this, the bridge has remained in good condition, requiring only routine maintenance. (Morris, 2003, pp. 25, 37; Morris, 1999, p. 218; RTA File: 14/468.1117) |