{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox bridge |bridge_name = Tharwa Bridge |image = Tharwa Bridge April 2012.JPG |caption = Tharwa Bridge is an Allan truss bridge over the Murrumbidgee River (looking North) |carries = Tharwa Drive |crosses = Murrimbidgee River |designer = Percy Allan |engineering = |design = Allan truss |material = timber |length = {{convert|598|feet}} |width = {{convert|15|feet}} |height = |lanes = 1 |spans = 4 |pierswater = 2 |load = 5 tonnes |clearance = |builder = McClure Bros |inaugurated = 27 March 1895<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98545702 |title=The Tharwa Bridge. |newspaper=Goulburn Evening Penny Post |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 March 1895 |accessdate=20 November 2016 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100450380 |title=OPENING OF THE THARWA BRIDGE. |newspaper=Goulburn Herald |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 March 1895 |accessdate=20 November 2016 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |coordinates = {{coord|-35.508579|149.070539|type:landmark_region:AU-ACT|display=inline,title}} }}
'''Tharwa Bridge''' is a four span Allan truss bridge that provides a high-level crossing point across the Murrumbidgee River, allowing traffic between Canberra and Tharwa village. It is the oldest surviving bridge in the Australian Capital Territory.
== History == left|thumb|Construction of Tharwa Bridge 1893 The bridge was opened on 27 March 1895, and a public holiday was declared in the region.<ref>{{cite news|title=Queanbeyan Borough Council|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31168551|accessdate=26 October 2010|newspaper=The Queanbeyan Age|date=16 Mar 1895|page=2}}</ref> A parade was held in Tharwa and 1500 people watched Mrs Elizabeth McKeahnie (the oldest resident of the area) open the bridge.<ref>{{Citation | last=Donald | first=J. Kay | title=Exploring the A.C.T. and southeast N.S.W. : J. Kay Donald | year=1985 | publication-date=1985 | publisher=Kangaroo Press | isbn=978-0-86417-049-1 | page=46}}</ref> The deck level of the bridge was based on the highest recorded flood level prior to building the bridge. A flood has not overtopped the bridge since construction. There is a mark on the concrete pier on the Western side of the river showing the flood level in 1991.
== Heritage == [[File:Murrumbidgee river tharwa bridge.jpg|left|thumb|Tharwa Bridge and the Murrumbidgee River after rain, 2005 (looking South); Tharwa is to the right]] The bridge was entered in the ACT Heritage Register<ref>{{Cite web | title = 20036. Tharwa Bridge | publisher = Chief Minister's Department | url = http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/148506/20036_TharwaBridge.pdf }}</ref> in 1998, is listed by the National Trust of Australia (ACT) and was entered on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate by the Australian Heritage Commission in 1983.
The bridge has also been awarded a Historic Engineering Marker by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program,<ref>{{cite web | url = https://portal.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage/tharwa-bridge-murrumbidgee-river-1895 | title = Tharwa Bridge, Murrumbidgee River, 1895- | publisher = Engineers Australia | access-date = 2020-05-08 }}</ref> and is one of the most significant pieces of heritage in the Australian Capital Territory.
The Tharwa Bridge and its site are historically and technically significant because of the Allan truss structure, having a form and structural integrity which have survived virtually intact. It is the archetypal example of the application of the new technology by Percy Allan to the construction of timber road bridges in New South Wales during a major development phase for bridge and road construction during the last decade of the nineteenth century.<ref name = "significance">{{cite web | year = 1998 | url = http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/Hansard/1998/week07/2016.htm | title = Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 7 Hansard (22 September), p. 2016 | publisher = ACT Government | accessdate = 25 October 2006 | archive-date = 5 April 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110405125234/http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard/1998/week07/2016.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>
Tharwa Bridge is highly valued by the local community as an integral part of the village of Tharwa. It continues to contribute in social, economic and aesthetic terms to the community. The bridge and its site have associative significance with the period of nineteenth century European settlement and development of the region.
== Maintenance and closures == thumb|Looking at the Tharwa Bridge, showing the single lane
An engineering assessment of the bridge was undertaken in 1978 by structural engineering firm Hardcastle & Richards, which resulted in some upgrades. However, the bridge subsequently deteriorated.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Australia. National Capital Development Commission | author2=Hardcastle & Richards Proprietary Limited | title=Tharwa Bridge feasibility study | publication-date=1978 | publisher=The Commission | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/18661766}}</ref>
The bridge was closed in April 2005 when a routine inspection identified extensive wood rotting (caused by termites) of a number of critical, structural elements of the bridge. During July and August 2005, Tharwa Bridge was strengthened with bailey panels to provide a temporary crossing for vehicles up to five tonne. This arrangement was to have been in place until 2008.
In September 2006 ACT Roads advised that the Tharwa Bridge would be closed for three months, and later announcing the bridge was to be closed for an indefinite period. Barriers were put in place to close off the bridge to road, cycle and pedestrian traffic. Traffic was diverted north to Point Hut low level crossing. In the event of that crossing being closed due to flooding, the only other high level bridge in the area is near the Cotter Dam.
In October 2006 the ACT Government announced its decision to construct a single lane concrete bridge with a pedestrian walkway adjacent to the existing bridge. Construction was intended to begin in 2007, however this plan was abandoned in favour of a decision to restore the old bridge, with construction getting underway in April 2008.<ref name="new bridge">{{cite web | year = 2006 | url = http://www.roads.act.gov.au/bridges/new_bridge_for_tharwa | title = New Bridge for Tharwa | publisher = Roads ACT | accessdate = 25 October 2006 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
The bridge was reopened in August 2008 to light traffic less than 5 tonnes.<ref name="Bridge open">{{cite web | year = 2008 | url = http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/tharwa-bridge-to-reopen-today-for-light-traffic/1256207.aspx | title = Tharwa Bridge to reopen today for light traffic | publisher = Canberra Times | accessdate = 18 March 2009 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20081208033638/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/tharwa-bridge-to-reopen-today-for-light-traffic/1256207.aspx | archivedate = 8 December 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sign Posted Bridge Restrictions in the ACT|url=http://www.tccs.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/383694/Sign_posted_bridge_restrictions.pdf|accessdate=20 November 2016}}</ref>
The second phase of the project was completed in February 2010 with the foundations improved to withstand major flooding. The third and final phase of the restoration involved further closure of the bridge to public use to allow for the replacement of the timber trusses, new timber deck, and steel railings.<ref>[http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/220218 /MR77_0211_Tharwa_Bridge_Restoration_in_its_final_stages.pdf Tharwa Bridge closed for final stages of work]{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}, 15 March 2011, Territory and Municipal Services, ACT</ref> The bridge was re-opened to the public on 24 June 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/24/3252398.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629192437/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/24/3252398.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2011 |title=Restored Tharwa Bridge reopening|date=24 June 2011|website=ABC Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/historic-tharwa-bridge-restored-and-reopened/2206097.aspx|title=Historic Tharwa bridge restored and re-opened|date=24 June 2011|website=The Canberra Times|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629003507/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/historic-tharwa-bridge-restored-and-reopened/2206097.aspx|archivedate=29 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> with work ongoing and was completed in September 2011.<ref>{{Cite news | newspaper = Canberra Times | title = Tharwa Bridge opened | date = 9 February 2010 | id = Proquest document id 1957809231 }}</ref> Ray Wedgwood, Chief Bridge Engineer of the NSW Roads & Traffic Authority and the NSW Department of Main Roads (DMR), with former Chief Bridge Engineer Brian Pearson, successfully advocated for the bridge to be repaired and upgraded, instead of being demolished, and provided technical advice to the ACT Government about the heritage issues and structural refurbishment of the bridge.<ref name="smh-ray-wedgewood-obit">{{cite news |last1=Wheen |first1=Rob |title=Engineer and designer worked on Captain Cook Bridge and Anzac Bridge |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/engineer-and-designer-worked-on-captain-cook-bridge-and-anzac-bridge-20200427-p54nok.html |access-date=24 March 2021 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald (obituary) |date=28 April 2020 |language=en-AU}}</ref>
In July 2018 the bridge again closed for annual maintenance work for three days. The bridge closed from Wednesday 18 July until Friday 20 July 2018 between 9 am and 3.30 pm. The maintenance included tightening of the bridge's decking and trusses. Weather conditions over the last 12 months may have caused them contraction or expansion.<ref name="cmtedd-ann-maint-close-july-'18">{{cite web |title=Temporary closure of Tharwa Bridge for annual maintenance |url=https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/act-transport-canberra-and-city-services-media-releases/2018/temporary-closure-of-tharwa-bridge-for-annual-maintenance |website=cmtedd.act.gov.au |publisher=Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate |access-date=24 March 2021 |language=en-AU |date=16 July 2018}}</ref>
==See also== * List of buildings and structures in the Australian Capital Territory
==References== {{reflist|35em}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060613065018/http://www.roads.act.gov.au/bridges/tharwabridge Historic Tharwa Bridge] *[http://www.wcities.com/en/record/,138305/267/record.html Tharwa Bridge Reserve] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130714000550/http://friendsoftharwabridge.com/ Friends of Tharwa Bridge] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090525102739/http://www.tams.act.gov.au/live/heritage/heritage_assets/tharwa_bridge Department of Territory and Municipal Services - Tharwa Bridge]
Category:Allan truss bridges Category:Bridges completed in 1895 Category:Road bridges in the Australian Capital Territory Category:Crossings of the Murrumbidgee River Category:Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers Category:1895 establishments in Australia Category:Australian Capital Territory Heritage Register Category:Australian Capital Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Category:Truss bridges in Australia