The Fig Tree 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 Burns Bay Road 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 ...

, and connects the suburbs of

Hunters Hill Hunters Hill is a suburb of the lower north shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area ...

in the south and Linley Point in the north, located approximately northwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

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 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

girder bridge carries motor vehicles, and a grade-separated

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

and

cycleway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except wher ...

History

The bridge replaced the original Fig Tree Bridge, an

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

the site of which is located directly adjacent to the current bridge. The original bridge was opened in 1885, and formed part of the first project to provide a fixed crossing of

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. The project also included the first

Gladesville Bridge Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hill, ...

(1881) and

Iron Cove Bridge The Iron Cove Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries Victoria Road (A40) across Iron Cove, linking the Sydney suburbs of Drummoyne to Rozelle in the City of Canada Bay local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Curren ...

(1882). The earlier Fig Tree Bridge was located about to the west of the new bridge. Its southern

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

, which still exists, has a viewing platform accessible from the end of Joubert Street, Hunters Hill. The wheel that once operated the opening span stands in memorial. The bridge took an hour to open its iron structure. Four workers were required to get the gearwheel opening system going.

Description

The current Fig Tree Bridge, which opened in September 1963, was built in conjunction with the

Tarban Creek Tarban Creek, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a creek west of Sydney Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ecology Tarban Creek starts near Earnshaw Parade in Gladesville and runs along a concrete base through Tarba ...

and Gladesville bridges as part of the planned

North Western Expressway The North Western Expressway and the Lane Cove Valley Expressway was a planned but now cancelled freeway route in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, intended to link the Sydney CBD to its north-western suburbs, and ultimately the Sydney–New ...

linking the city with the future Sydney-Newcastle Freeway. The expressway was cancelled but the freeway grade road from the eastern end of the Gladesville Bridge, over Tarban Creek and ending at the northern end of Fig Tree Bridge has been maintained. The piers and deck were designed to allow an additional two lanes to be provided, and this can be seen in the eccentric camber of the deck, with the apex of the camber off-centre to the centreline of the deck. Although the North Western Expressway has not eventuated, along with the Tarban Creek and Gladesville Bridges, Fig Tree Bridge serves a vital role as part of the next crossing upriver from the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

of Sydney Harbour, and is therefore an alternative route northwest between the central business district and the lower north shore via Burns Bay Road. The bridge does not carry a toll. The Fig Tree Bridge is part of the Seven Bridges Walk, a fundraising event run by the Cancer Council of NSW. The event consists of a walking circuit that crossed seven of Sydney's bridges, including the Sydney Harbour, Pyrmont,

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comma ...

Iron Cove Iron Cove is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately due west of Sydney central business district, Sydney's central business district. It i ...

, Gladesville, and Tarban Creek bridges.

Gallery

Fig Tree Bridge, Lane Cove River (NSW) (7069207257).jpg, The first Fig Tree Bridge FigTreeBridge_from_BoroniaPark.jpg, The bridge viewed from Boronia Park

References

External links

* * {{Road infrastructure in Sydney Bridges in Sydney Bridges completed in 1885 Bridges completed in 1963 1963 establishments in Australia Girder bridges Concrete bridges in Australia Municipality of Hunter's Hill Road bridges in New South Wales Lane Cove River

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References

External links