Gladesville is a suburb of Sydney located 9 km north-west of the Sydney central business district. One of Sydney's most famous landmarks is the Gladesville Bridge, an arch span bridge allowing Victoria Road over Parramatta River and links the north shore with the inner west. When completed in 1964, this bridge was the longest single-span concrete arch ever constructed. Construction took five years to complete and the bridge opened on October 2nd, 1964. There are three northbound traffic lanes and four southbound lanes, with a concrete median.
Gladesville Bridge is part of the annual Seven Bridges Walk, a 26.2 km loop circuit that travels clockwise around Sydney Harbour. The starting point if you wanna start here is the Hunter's Hill village at Church Street near the Burns Bay overpass.
The bridge design was a first, but construction method was reminiscent of the ancient Roman method of building arches in sections using temporary formwork. Precast concrete blocks were hoisted up from barges on the river, and huge inflatable rubber gaskets were installed and inflated with hydraulic fluid, which lifted the entire arch above the temporary formwork to support its own weight. Then the gaskets were filled with liquid concrete, which set to form a permanent solid arch. The formwork was then moved sideways and the next arch constructed in the same fashion. Once the arches were in place, the deck was constructed with precast concrete units. The bridge was designed by G Maunsell & Partners of London, with consulting approval from the famous bridge engineer Eugene Freyssinet.
The current bridge replaced the original Gladesville Bridge completed in 1881, which was the only crossing of the Parramatta River east of Parramatta at that time (Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed in 1932). The old Gladesville Bridge was constructed in a bridge binge in the1880s, which also saw the construction of the Iron Cove Bridge, Glebe Island Bridge and Pyrmont Bridge. The old bridge was 300 metres (980 ft) to the west of the modern bridge. The sandstone piers on each shore are all that remain today of the original bridge (next to Huntleys Point Ferry Wharf, and in Howley Park, Drummoyne).
This bridge reminds me of the Coronado Bridge in San Diego, with its concrete arch and pylons, and its clearance so high above the water. Smooth and clean. The span of the bridge is 305 metres (1000 ft) and has a high clearance of 40 metres (133 ft). A high school friend of mine lived on the water next to here and we used to row his little boat across the bay. Years later I used to take the rivercat catamaran to work which of course ran under this bridge. read more
