Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge, Former road bridge, now footbridge, over the Murray River between Barooga, New South Wales, and Cobram, Victoria, Australia.
The Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge carries a footpath across the Murray River between Barooga, New South Wales, and Cobram, Victoria. Its three De Burgh composite trusses combine timber vertical posts and top chords with steel bottom chords and inclined tension rods joined by turned pins. A lift span once opened for paddle-steamers and loaded barges.
The crossing was built between 1900 and 1902 by the New South Wales Department of Public Works using designs by Ernest de Burgh. A parallel vehicle bridge constructed in 2006 changed its role, and it now functions exclusively as a pedestrian structure with heritage protection.
The crossing served as a vital link between two regions, representing how communities organized their trade and movement across boundaries. Today it shows how a simple engineering solution became important to people's daily lives and economic activities.
The bridge functions as a free public footpath and requires no special arrangements to visit or walk across. Both ends are easily accessible from the towns, making it a straightforward walking route that offers river views.
The De Burgh truss was built only from 1899 to 1905, and this bridge is one of its surviving examples: timber vertical posts and top chords with steel diagonal rods joined to continuous steel bottom chords by turned pins. Its opening span was needed because paddle-steamers and loaded barges required extra headroom during high water and floods.
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