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Roseville Bridge

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Coordinates: 33°46′23″S 151°12′13″E / 33.77310°S 151.20366°E / -33.77310; 151.20366
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This article is about the bridge in Australia. For the covered bridge in Indiana, see Roseville Bridge (Indiana).

Roseville Bridge
View from Killarney Heights to Roseville
Coordinates33°46′23″S 151°12′13″E / 33.77310°S 151.20366°E / -33.77310; 151.20366
CarriesWarringah Road
CrossesMiddle Harbour
LocaleRoseville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
BeginsRoseville (south)
EndsFrenchs Forest (north)
Maintained byTransport for NSW
Followed bySpit Bridge
Characteristics
DesignBox girder
MaterialPre-stressed concrete
Total length377 metres (1,237 ft)
Clearance above17.4 metres (57 ft)
No. of lanes6: 3 northbound; 3 southbound
History
Construction costA$1.64 million
Opened2 April 1966 (1966-04-02) by Robert Askin, NSW Premier
ReplacesOld Roseville Bridge (1924–1974)
Statistics
Daily traffic65,000 (2016)
Location
Map
References
[1][2][3][4]

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 Roseville, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge is one of two crossings of Middle Harbour, the other being the Spit Bridge.

Current bridge

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The suburbs east of Middle Harbour grew rapidly in the years following the opening of the inaugural Roseville Bridge. On 2 April 1966, the Liberal Premier Robin Askin, the local Member for Collaroy, officially opened the new six-lane, high-level bridge, in a ceremony attended by several hundred people, including Pat Morton (Minister for Local Government and Highways), Milton Morris (Minister for Transport), Dick Healey (Member for Wakehurst), Harry Jago (Member for Gordon), and J. A. L. Shaw (Commissioner for Main Roads).[2][5][6][7]

Built at a cost of A$1.64 million, the bridge was designed by the Department of Main Roads, with architects Fowell, Mansfield & Maclurcan being design consultants on the project; the primary contractor was John Holland (Constructions) Pty Ltd.[8] The bridge is 377 metres (1,237 ft) long has a clearance of 17.4 metres (57 ft) from the water below.[1] However, the adjacent Pipe Bridge has a clearance of only 11 metres (36 ft). This limitation, combined with only 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) depth of water, make it out of reach for most cruising vessels. Along with the bridge, a significant upgrade of the approach roads was completed, which became the six-lane Warringah Road. This upgraded section of road is approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long.

Today Roseville Bridge is part of a major thoroughfare from the Pacific Highway at Roseville to the Northern Beaches and suburbs east of Middle Harbour. Due to the halt of the construction of the Warringah Expressway across Middle Harbour to Wakehurst Parkway and the Burnt Bridge Creek Deviation, which is the only part of the Warringah Expressway built on the Northern Beaches by the Labor Wran government, there are today only two other major roads to these areas: Mona Vale Road, and Spit Road which crosses Middle Harbour downstream from Roseville Bridge using the Spit Bridge.

The road carries three lanes of traffic towards Roseville, and three lanes of traffic towards Frenchs Forest. A grade-separated shared pedestrian footpath and cycleway is located on the western side of the bridge.

On 8 March 2022, torrential rain and inadequate drainage led to the bridge being dubbed the new "Roseville Aqueduct" with images showing floating cars and water fall edge.[9]

Former Roseville Bridge, 1924–1974

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Old Roseville Bridge
Coordinates33°46′27″S 151°12′19″E / 33.774266°S 151.205181°E / -33.774266; 151.205181
Carried
  • Babbage Road
  • Warringah Road
CrossedMiddle Harbour
LocaleRoseville, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Followed byRoseville Bridge
Characteristics
DesignLow-level bridge
MaterialConcrete
Total length240 feet (73 m)
Longest span40 feet (12 m)
No. of spans6
Piers in water5
No. of lanes2
History
DesignerR. S. Morris
Constructed byJohn Howie and Sons
Construction costA£8548
Opened20 September 1924 (1924-09-20)
Collapsed1974
Closed1966
ReplacedFerry
Replaced byRoseville Bridge (since 1966)
References
[10][2]: 82 

An original bridge across Middle Harbour at Roseville was built jointly by the Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai and Warringah councils; with fifty percent of the funding provided by the NSW Government. It was built of reinforced concrete by unemployed returned servicemen and opened on 20 September 1924. It was claimed to be the longest bridge of that type in NSW although the bridge across the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond was longer. It was claimed to be the first bridge supported on reinforced concrete piles.[2] This low-level two-lane bridge was located downstream of the current bridge, and connected Babbage Road to what is today called Healey Way, which is the entrance to Davidson Park within Garigal National Park.[1][11] The first bridge replaced an earlier ferry service consisting of rowing boats across the narrowest section of water.[12]

The 1924 bridge survived the opening of the new bridge, and provided pedestrian access only, until it was demolished in 1974,[12] along with Roseville Baths. Almost nothing remains from these structures.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Morcombe, John (20 April 2014). "Roseville Bridge the first to link the peninsula with the rest of Sydney". Manly Daily. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d Kass, Terry (February 2006). "RTA Thematic History: A component of the RTA Heritage and Conservation Register" (PDF). NSW Roads & Maritime Services (PDF) (2nd ed.). Government of New South Wales. pp. 24, 90. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Average Daily Traffic Volumes" (PDF). NSW Roads & Maritime Services (PDF). Government of New South Wales. 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Roseville Bridge stands the test of time, celebrating 50 years". North Shore Times. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Opening of new Roseville Bridge" (Photograph). Northern Beaches Council. 2 April 1966. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  6. ^ "Opening of new Roseville Bridge" (Photograph). Northern Beaches Council. 2 April 1966. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Bridge opened". The Sun-Herald. 3 April 1966. p. 21. One of Sydney's worst traffic bottlenecks was eliminated yesterday with the opening of the new Roseville bridge over Middle Harbour. The $1,640,000 six-lane bridge was officially opened by the Premier, Mr R. W. Askin. It spans Middle Harbour 68 feet above the water and replaces the 42-year-old, two-lane low-level bridge. Several hundred residents of Roseville and Warringah Shire went to the opening ceremony. Mr Askin cut the ribbon, after which the official party moved across in a motorcade. The barriers were then withdrawn and swarms of young children raced to be first to the other side. Mr Askin said the opening of the new bridge was "a tremendous step forward." "Compared to 42 years ago when 4,000 vehicles created a new record by crossing the old bridge in a day, 23,480 vehicles now cross Middle Harbour each day," he said.
  8. ^ Johnson, Bob (6 March 1966). "Easter 'egg' for motorists -- another bridge". The Sun Herald. p. 57.
  9. ^ "Roseville Aqueduct". Twitter. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Beneath Roseville Bridge". Living Local Guide. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  11. ^ Bridges - land and water. NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (Information display at the Davidson Park). Davidson: Government of New South Wales.
  12. ^ a b "The old Roseville Bridge". Powerhouse Museum. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
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