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SHR Criteria a)
[Historical significance] | Pyrmont Bridge, an essential link between the city and the inner western suburbs, is closely associated with the economic and social development of Sydney at the end of the 19th century.
Pyrmont Bridge is closely associated with Percy Allan, PWD Engineer-in-Chief of bridge design, with the assistance of JJ Bradfield and Gordon Edgell. Percy Allen was responsible for the introduction of American timber bridge practice to NSW, and designed over 500 bridges in NSW. |
SHR Criteria b)
[Associative significance] | Indicating the high standard of civil engineering works achieved by the NSW Department of Public Works, the finest of the 583 bridges in the state designed by Percy Allan, the PWD Engineer-in- Chief of Bridge Design. Other prominent engineers involved with the design of the bridge were John Bradfield and Gordon Edgell. Indicating the widespread use of Australian hardwoods in building and bridge construction in NSW prior to World War 1, reflecting a deliberate decision by the Public Works Department to use locally produced materials in bridge construction. NSW was well known to travellers as being the timber bridge state. |
SHR Criteria c)
[Aesthetic significance] | The Pyrmont Bridge is potentially of national significance as a technologically innovative swing span bridge, the design of which combined recent American technology: the central pivot span, electricity and the D/C tram motor, with European steelwork and the locally developed Allan Truss bridge, an improvement, made by Allan in 1894 to the American Howe Truss. The elegant steelwork to the swing span and the carved stone detailing of the Sydney sandstone to the piers and balustrade of the approaches are combined with utilitarian timberwork to the piles and Allan Trusses, employed below the deck. Technically a difficult structure to build, the construction involved the use of divers in sinking the permanent wrought iron caisson and pouring concrete under water. A photographic record of the construction of the bridge, and a series of handcoloured drawings recording the construction survive at State Records, indicating the meticulous care that was taken with the design and construction of the Pyrmont Bridge. |
SHR Criteria d)
[Social significance] | The design continued the high standard of civil engineering works undertaken by the NSW Department of Public Works since its formation in 1857, engineering works that were both a source of pride to Australians and innovative at an international level. Currently the bridge is recognised as a significant engineering work by the Institute of Engineers. An example of the careful application of the Burra Charter principles to a structure that continues to be used, largely as intended, on a daily basis. The Pyrmont Bridge is a well known Sydney landmark and is used on a regular basis by numerous pedestrians and cyclists. Utilised as a venue for during events, it is also a popular viewing spot. The Pyrmont Bridge has continued to be used, by pedestrians, for over a century, continuing a route that has existed since the 1850s. |
SHR Criteria f)
[Rarity] | A rare, possibly unique, example, in NSW, of the use of Allan trusses below deck. The combination of timber work to the approaches and a steel swing span does not occur in the American examples and would appear to be particular to the major timber producing countries ie Canada and Australia. For its time the steelwork to the swing span is potentially one of the largest steel spans in Australia. The design, and surviving structure, provides evidence of the transfer from the use of wrought and cast iron to steel, contains examples of each: the wrought iron caison; the ornate cast iron work to the control cabinet and the steelwork that supports the bridge decking of the swing span. At the time of construction steel was not manufactured locally. An early example of a swing span bridge to be powered by electricity, marking the transfer in Sydney from steam or hydraulic power to direct current electricity, which powered the gates, the swing span and the arc lights to the decking as well as the navigational lights, predating the use of electricity for street lighting in Sydney by 2 years. |
| Integrity/Intactness: | Pyrmont Bridge is no longer used as a public road, the eastern approach having been removed, however, the bridge still functions as a pedestrian link between the central city and Pyrmont. The bridge swing span, the centrepiece of the design, is opened on a regular basis. Thus, the bridge retains its integrity as a swing bridge. |
| 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. |