De Burghs Bridge is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

that carries the

Lane Cove Road Lane Cove Road is a major suburban arterial road in Sydney, Australia. It forms part of A3 and is located in the Ryde local government area. The southern end of Lane Cove Road connects with Devlin Street at Blaxland Road at Top Ryde, about ...

, part of the A3, across the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding throu ...

Macquarie Park Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde. ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. The bridge stretches from

in the south to

West Pymble West Pymble is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council. Pymble is a separate suburb to the ea ...

in the north.

History

The current De Burghs Bridge is the second bridge with this name to cross the Lane Cove River in this area.

First bridge

The first bridge with this name was designed in 1899 by

Ernest de Burgh Ernest Macartney de Burgh (; ; 18 January 1863 – 3 April 1929) was an Irish-born Australian civil engineer, chief-engineer for water supply and sewerage in New South Wales. Early life De Burgh was the youngest son of the Rev. William de Burg ...

, after whom the bridge is named, and was opened on 23 February 1901. It was situated downstream from the current bridge, within metres at the southern end, and about away from the current bridge at the northern end. The single De Burgh timber

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

was in length, the largest truss was , the longest timber truss

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 ...

ever built in Australia. The old bridge was destroyed by bushfire in January 1994. The northern abutment on the ground is still visible, as are parts of the supporting piers. The new bridge offers a vantage point to view the remnants of the original structure.

Second bridge

The bridge was replaced by two large high-level multi-lane separate concrete bridges, built alongside each other, that opened on 15 December 1967. The current bridge is a six-lane bridge that, unlike the original timber truss, is perpendicular to the river. This demonstrates how far road and bridge building had progressed by the 1960s, as previously it was dictated by the form of the land. One can see how the newer road and bridge is built right over any land formations, in contrast to the winding old road. De Burghs Bridge is similar in form and function to

Roseville Bridge The Roseville Bridge, is a pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridge that carries Warringah Road, part of the A38 across Middle Harbour, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two ...

, being a high-level multi-lane bridge replacing a low level, narrow bridge as well as windy approach roads. De Burghs Bridge is an important part of the A3, a significant north–south artery across metropolitan Sydney which is the next road that connects the northern suburbs and the lower northern suburbs after (to the east of)

Pennant Hills Road Pennant Hills Road, a section of Cumberland Highway, is a major urban highway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The road links the suburb of Wahroonga in the northeast, to the major central business district of Parramatta in the ...

. The bridge carries three lanes of traffic each way and a pedestrian walkway on either side of the bridge. A plaque placed on the bridge pays tribute to the old bridge. It was placed there in 1988 before the destruction of the old bridge.

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