Canning Bridge is a traffic bridge which is the most downstream crossing of the

Canning River The Canning River (Djarlgarra in Nyungar) is a major tributary of the Swan River in the South West Land Division of Western Australia. It is home to much wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, swans and many other bird species. Source and ...

in the city of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. The bridge is a part of

Canning Highway Canning Highway is an arterial road in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner Perth suburb of Victoria Park in the north-east, to the port city of Fremantle in the south-west. The road is mostly a four-lane divided carriageway, with a ge ...

, and it connects the suburbs of

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

and

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

. The Canning River is approximately 100 metres (328 ft) wide at the crossing, the narrowest point of the river along its downstream stretch. It is located near the

Canning Bridge railway station Canning Bridge railway station is a railway station on the Transperth network. It is located on the Mandurah line, four kilometres from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway located adjacent to the suburb of Como. Histo ...

History

There have been four different structures at the present site.

First bridge: 1849

The first bridge was designed in 1846 by

Henry Trigg Henry Trigg (1791–1882) was the Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the Congregational Church in Perth. Biography Henry Trigg was born on 30 June 1791 in Gloucester, England, the son of Henry ...

, then Superintendent of Public Works. The bridge as designed was 520 feet (175 m) long and 12 feet (4 m) wide. It had a central

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

of 24 feet (8 m), and its deck sat just 8 feet (2 m) above the river water. Construction on the bridge was not commenced until 1849 because the original tenders were too costly. The bridge was built by Solomon Cook, costing £425. The bridge served as a vital traffic link between

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Perth and

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Second bridge: 1867

Flooding in the Swan and Canning Rivers in 1862 damaged the Canning and Helena Bridges, as well as

The Causeway The Causeway is an arterial traffic crossing in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner-city suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It is carried over the Swan River at the eastern end of Perth Water by two bridges on either side of He ...

. As a result, a new Canning Bridge was built in 1867 by

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

s. This second bridge had a clearance of 12 feet (4 m) above the river water; the bridge deck was raised to have a clearance of 18 feet (6 m) in 1892.

Third bridge: 1908

Due to poor maintenance, the second bridge slowly deteriorated. A fire damaged the structure, and since the road served as a critical traffic link, funding was provided for a new bridge in 1907 and 1908. The new bridge was built in 1908 at a cost of £2,023, and was a sturdier construction. It was located south east of the present bridge. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, between 1930 and 1933, bushland on the eastern bank of the Canning River at Canning Bridge hosted many homeless families in bushland camps.

Current structure: 1939

Construction on a replacement for the third bridge began in 1938. The new bridge, which cost £24,830, was opened in December 1939. It was a timber pile-driven bridge constructed of

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 ...

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cre ...

and

wandoo Wandoo is the common name for a number of Western Australian ''Eucalyptus'' species, all of which have smooth white bark. The original "wandoo" is ''Eucalyptus wandoo''. Additional species have been given this name because of a perceived likeness w ...

timber, and features three navigation spans, two of and one of . It is long. Due to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the third bridge was not immediately demolished, in case of damage to the new bridge by enemy attack. The third bridge was kept in place until the late 1940s. The 1939 bridge remains standing today, however it has been extensively modified since it was first opened and only carries Eastbound traffic on Canning Highway. In 1958, another pile-driven timber bridge was constructed alongside the existing 1939 bridge on its upstream (Southern) side, effectively doubling the traffic capacity of the structure. This newer structure featured a fishing platform below, but in most other respects was very similar to the original carriageway. 1958 saw the shortening of the 1939 (downstream) bridge on its Eastern end by 3 spans to accommodate an on-ramp to the then-new

Kwinana Freeway The Kwinana Freeway is a freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with Mandurah to the south. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Cl ...

. Then, between 1965 and 1966, both the downstream and upstream bridges were widened on their outer sides by an extra 2 piles, to give a total of 8 piles per pier on each bridge. At this time, the fishing platform underneath the 1958 (upstream) bridge was also extended and modified. 1976 saw the installation of a reinforced concrete overlay onto the 1939 (downstream) bridge's deck, and the same was performed on the 1958 (upstream) bridge in 1984. The original karri timber halfcaps in the 1939 bridge's structure were replaced by steel in 1994-1995 due to termite damage. Other substructure repairs were also carried out at this time, and the Eastern abutment of the 1958 bridge was reinforced with concrete. In 1997, the reinforced concrete overlay on the bridge decks was replaced, and was expected to help lengthen the lifespan of the structure by 40 years. Further reinforced concrete was used in 1998–1999 to stop further damage to the bridge's superstructure.

Raffles Hotel

The location of Canning Bridge on the road from Fremantle to Perth and Guildford made it a suitable location for accommodation and refreshments. As a result, in 1896 the Canning Bridge Hotel was built near the bridge on its western (

) side. This building was extensively upgraded in 1939 with a distinctive

art-deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

facade designed by architect William G. Bennett to coincide with the construction of the current bridge. The building was renamed the

Raffles Hotel Raffles Hotel is a British colonial-style luxury hotel in Singapore. It was established by Armenian hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers, in 1887. The hotel was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern S ...

after the hotel of the same name in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Apart from its status as "the epitome" of Perth's social scene in the 1940s and 1950s, the Raffles later became noted for its animated neon billboards advertising beer. During the 1970s and 1980s the Raffles was notable for its live music attracting the most popular local and interstate acts. In 2002, the site was sold to construction company

Multiplex Multiplex may refer to: * Multiplex (automobile), a former American car make * Multiplex (comics), a DC comic book supervillain * Multiplex (company), a global contracting and development company * Multiplex (assay), a biological assay which measu ...

, which proceeded to redevelop the site into a 17-storey apartment tower. As part of the planning permissions, the art-deco 1939 building was retained and renovated.

Heritage status

In March 2012 the bridge attained status on the Western Australian State Heritage list.

References

External links

* {{coord , region:AU-WA_type:landmark_dim:{{wikidata , property , qualifier , raw , P625 , P2386 , format=%q , name={{wikidata , property , P1448 , display=title , format=dms Road bridges in Perth, Western Australia Canning River (Western Australia) State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Melville State Register of Heritage Places in the City of South Perth Applecross, Western Australia