Bunbury Bridge was a single-track, timber railway bridge in East Perth in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The bridge crossed the Swan River near

Claise Brook Claise Brook is a stream which empties into Claisebrook Cove before running into the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. The area surrounding the stream is on the outskirts of the Perth CBD and is part of the suburb of East Perth. Claise ...

and was built for passenger and freight traffic to Bunbury on the South Western Railway. Originally called the Swan Bridge, it was built in 1892 by Atkins and Law. Construction was delayed due to troubles with sinking the

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with roug ...

piles into the soft riverbed: they were intended to be sunk below the water level, but reached this depth under their own weight as soon as they were put in position. Ultimately, they had to be driven to before a solid footing was found. The bridge was opened as part of the Perth to Bunbury Railway, which was officially opened on 8 September 1893 by Governor Robinson. Following concerns for its safety, a so-called "temporary" replacement bridge was built between 1930 and 1932. After 63 years of use, the temporary structure was closed when a new concrete railway bridge opened in 1995. The old timber bridge was demolished in early 1996. The 1995 concrete dual-track

Goongoongup Bridge Goongoongup Bridge is a railway bridge in East Perth, Western Australia which crosses the Swan River and forms part of the Armadale line. It opened on 24 July 1995 as part of the electrification of Perth's suburban railway network."New Perth B ...

was built as part of the electrification of Perth's suburban railways.

Windan Bridge The Windan Bridge is a six-lane road bridge in East Perth, Western Australia which crosses the Swan River and forms part of the Graham Farmer Freeway. Opened in 2000, it sits next to the Goongoongup railway bridge which was built in 1995. A ...

(opened April 2000) is immediately adjacent and carries road traffic from the

Graham Farmer Freeway Graham Farmer Freeway is a inner-city freeway in Perth, Western Australia. It links Rivervale and Burswood with West Perth and Leederville, providing an east-west bypass of Perth's central business district. The freeway, in conjunction wi ...

References

{{coord, -31.94794, 115.88286, display=title, format=dms East Perth, Western Australia Railway bridges in Perth, Western Australia Bridges completed in 1898 Bridges completed in 1932 Swan River (Western Australia) Armadale and Thornlie lines South Western Railway, Western Australia Burswood, Western Australia Buildings and structures demolished in 1996 Former railway bridges in Australia Demolished bridges in Australia

See also

References