The Roseville Bridge, is a

pre-stressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...

box girder

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 Warringah Road, part of the A38 across

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Austr ...

, located adjacent to the suburb of , in Sydney,

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 bridge is one of two crossings of Middle Harbour, the other being the

Spit Bridge Spit may refer to: Common uses * Spit (archaeology), a term for a unit of archaeological excavation * Spit (landform), a section of land that extends into a body of water * Spit or rotisserie, a rotating device used for cooking by roasting over ...

Current bridge

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 Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Premier

Robin Askin Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but ...

, the Member for Collaroy at the time, later the Member for Pittwater, opened the current six-lane, high-level bridge. 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 long. Built at a cost of 4.4 million, the bridge is long has a clearance of from the water below. However, the adjacent Pipe Bridge has a clearance of only . This limitation, combined with only depth of water, make it out of reach for most cruising vessels. Today Roseville Bridge is part of a major thoroughfare from the Pacific Highway at Roseville to the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the en ...

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 Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

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 . A grade-separated shared pedestrian footpath 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 ...

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.

Former Roseville Bridge, 1924-1974

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 The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

. 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 The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

at was longer. It was claimed to be the first bridge supported on reinforced concrete piles. 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 The Garigal National Park is a protected national park that is located within the North Shore and Forest District regions of Sydney, New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately north of the Sydney cen ...

. The first bridge replaced an earlier ferry service consisting of rowing boats across the narrowest section of water. The 1924 bridge survived the opening of the new bridge, and provided pedestrian access only, until it was demolished in 1974, along with Roseville Baths. Almost nothing remains from these structures.

References

{{Road infrastructure in Sydney Bridges in Sydney Bridges completed in 1924 Bridges completed in 1966 1966 establishments in Australia Box girder bridges Concrete bridges in Australia Road bridges in New South Wales Roseville, New South Wales Frenchs Forest, New South Wales 1974 disestablishments in Australia

Current bridge

Former Roseville Bridge, 1924-1974

See also

References