The Narrows Bridge, 1961
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Video produced by the Western Australian Government Film Unit in 1961 documenting the construction of the Narrows Bridge between 1957 and 1959.
The video features footage of one of the two 31½ horsepower 4½ ton Ruston & Hornsby Class LBT diesel mechanical locomotives (b/n 404981 or 404982 of 1957) purchased by construction firm Christiani and Nielsen for use on the project at 07:03, 14:29 and 16:03.
A temporary timber access bridge was built on the downstream side of the construction which included a 3'6" gauge rail line that connected to the casting and storage yard at Mill Point on the southern bank of the river. The flat wagons used appear to be ex-WAGR or PWD vehicles.
After the bridgework was complete, it is understood that at least one locomotive were sold to timber interests in 1961. It is believed one was sold to Millars for use at their Jardee Mill and the other sold to Bunnings Bros for use at their Manjimup Mill, however some sources list the same builders number at both locations and it may have been the same unit. The unit at Jardee was replaced by a larger unit in 1972 and Bunnings later took over operations at Jardee in 1983. In 1984, Bunnings donated the unit at Manjimup (believed to b/n 404982) to the Western Australian Light Railway Preservation Association (@BennettBrookRailway) for preservation, where it has since been converted from 3'6" to 2' and a new cab built. The second unit is presumed scrapped. Any additional information on the working life of the units under timber company ownership is welcome.
The video also includes footage of a Road Machines (Drayton) Ltd. industrial monorail in use at 13:34 and 23:38.
Preserved by the Historical Records Rescue Consortium Project supported by Lotterywest.
Narrator: Ronald Bell
Photography: Leith Goodall
Script: Malcolm S. Hope
Art: Leon Williams
Sound: Alexander McPhee
Production: Norman Uren
Shared for educational and research purposes only.
encore.slwa.wa...
I remember going with Dad & catching delicious Swan River prawns at night next to the bridge. Also catching some seriously big cobbler across the way near the old Swan brewery at night back in the 60's, fond memories! Really interesting, thanks.
As a very young child I remember my parents taking me to Kings Park to watch the progress from the lookout. A lot of the sand used to build up the northern freeway approach was trucked in from the site excavation that preceded the building of what is now the Water Corp office at the entrance to Kings Park. From memory it was Bell Bros who had the contract and there was an endless flow of tipper trucks from the excavation site to the bridge approach via St George’s Tce, traffic congestion was never a big issue in those days!
Great to be reminded how we could actually build things ourselves, I.e. State Engineering Works, and all done without the need for a small army of Health and Safety gurus shuffling paperwork to justifying their existence.
Our farther worked on this project from memory he was a rigger and later on the pile driver, rip ol mate
🌹
Excellent! Amazing that so much of it was captured on film. Such a good job, they built the second one just like it!
As a boy my grandfather took me periodically to look at the bridge construction process. I did not then imagine that as a graduate engineer I would have an involvement with the Mt Henry bridge further down the Kwinana Freeway. The Narrows Bridge is a graceful structure for its time and place, when WA was far less developed and private industry had hardly driven a bridge pile before.
The bridge as it stands today is barely more than 25 years old. "It was" may be more appropriate seems its very similar but still a different bridge today. The difference in engineering was thoroughly explained to a rather bored teenage me by my older sister, whom I like to think of as the "Last Concrete Engineer standing" on that project... i.e. She was the lead Engineer at the end of the process just because she didn't move on to bigger and better things as this was literally her first project out of uni. What I have noticed is all her Engineer friends have done great things, its just expected- its just part of the job.... No one knows who she is but she and you and others do great things and you shouldn't be surprised.
@@mewoozy2 the original bridge still stands and carries southbound traffic every day of the week. A second bridge was built to the west of the original bridge, opening to northbound traffic in 2001. It was a completely separate structure to accommodate the foundations of both bridges settling in the soft river bed at different rates. A rail bridge was later built between the two road bridges, opening to rail traffic in 2007.
@@MitchellFreeway my nephew worked on the bridge duplication as a surveyor's assistant.😊
My Father Leith Goodall shot all the film on the building of the Narrows Bridge. He was a Cameraman with the WA Government film Unit.
Fabulous archive footage of a truly inspiring project. And what an impact the bridge has had. The piling method has stood the test of time and I worked on the installation of Woodside North Rankin A Platform in 1982 also using a variant of the Gambia method with 2m diameter, 50mm thick piles over 150 metres in length. These days I regularly pass under the bridge whilst fishing our magnificent Swan River and I marvel at the bridge. Thanks to this video I'm more informed and even more appreciative. Thanks for posting.
Its not the same bridge anymore, twas rebuilt anew in the late 90's.....
@@mewoozy2 Wow I didn't realize that. I thought a second bridge had been added because it was too difficult to widen the original structure. I just assumed the original remained 🤔
@@mewoozy2 that's incorrect. The original bridge still stands and carries southbound traffic every day of the week. A second bridge was built to the west of the original bridge, opening to northbound traffic in 2001. The second bridge was a completely separate structure to allow the foundations of both bridges to settle in the soft river bed at different rates. A rail bridge was later built between the two road bridges, opening to rail traffic in 2007.
Fantastic find. Thank you for preserving this film. Wow, Perth has certainly changed a lot more than I'd even realised.
Thanks!
Fascinating video - thank for the upload!
My mind is blown. How we in Western Austalia could actually build something. The hard work that went into it sure has paid off over the years.
We build things all the time.
@@MitchellFreeway Sadly not as much as we used to. The new trains are built in India and assembled in WA. Why can't they be fully built here.
@@ceeemm1901 what's the source of that figure? Is that a percentage of GDP, TEUs, employment, etc? How is "manufactured good" being defined? The figure is pretty meaningless without additional context.
@@1toonhead incorrect. Only the empty metal body shell is made in India. The cab structures, fuel tanks, battery boxes, pantographs, couplers, electrical cabinets, sandboxes, seating, air systems, insulation, floor panels, piping and other various metal components are all made in WA.
Electric railcars have never been built in Western Australia. It is an entirely new industry being established from the ground up. 50% local content is an achievable goal and also provides scope to scale up in the future. If it was fully built in WA the cost and timeline would increase considerably.
I would also suggest that there isn't a single modern heavy rail vehicle that is entirely made within one locality.
West Australians built a weir at Mundaring and a 526km pipeline to Kalgoorlie in 1898-1903 and still stands today - 121 years later.....Narrows is a teenage compared to Sydney Harbour, that's 9 years off its centenary. Even the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric power is barely 52 years old.
Quite a modern looking design for something built back in 1961.
It was built in 1957-1959. The video was produced in 1961.
A critical bridge for Western Australia linking the North and South.
I remember my dad saying there was a fuss about the bridge having so many lanes, that so many would never be used. Turned out to be quite far-sighted, at least for another 20 to 30 years anyway.
Shame they couldn’t have built the bicton-nedlands bridge around this time, impossible to do now.
The crime back then was putting a freeway along prime river frontage, just as they did with mounts bay rd, imagine the views if we had cafes and restaurants and the like instead of the horrible freeway traffic now.
And the destruction of the Barracks
Completed in time for the Commonwealth Games.
Presented by voice of the bbc and zero high viz 😂
what did people do before the bridge?? did you have to go threw freo to get from north to south?? or Guildford bridge?
The Causeway
Shame that the bridge is so boring, no creative design, no initiative it's just a bridge.
To be fair they had 1/5 of today's population. I'm sure they were more concerned about it being future proof rather than looks. It's a 5 lane highway with train lines and pedestrian paths don't forget
Yes a bridge still still standing 65 years latter.
@@pjamajones8304 And is quite a modern looking one for the day too.
@@nathanvanblommestein4316 I guess whilst on the other side of the country they were building the Sydney Harbor Bridge it's just a bit of a missed opportunity.
There's an elegance in the simplicity.
I have vivid memories of being a nine year old passenger in the rear seat of my mother's 1958 Morris Minor when we crossed the bridge on opening day! So sad that we sactificed so much of the Swan River to enable its construction. Perth was such a different place then ... egalitarian, welcoming to enriching cultures and easy to buy a house (so long as you were not indigenous).
Wow .how things have changes. Too bad getting a roof over your head if you're a w person of European decent and fallen on hard times...you might get given a tent if you're a lucky w fella
@@ACDZ123 .o
Oh how predictable! I reckon you are a whinging pom with serious attitude problems. I must say that the poms did send down to the antipodes one or two good things... The Morris Minor was fantastic!
@PracticalEngineeringChannel something interesting for you!