Denison Bridge, Steel truss bridge in New South Wales, Australia

Denison Bridge is a wrought-iron Pratt truss footbridge over the Macquarie River in Bathurst, New South Wales. Its three main truss spans of 34, 34.5 and 34 metres sit between three timber approach spans at each end, giving a total length of 143.5 metres. The trusses rest on four pairs of cast-iron cylinders 1.83 metres in diameter, braced with crossed wrought-iron rods, and four lamp standards stand at the ends.

The first Denison Bridge, a five-arch timber structure, opened on 1 January 1856 and was named after Governor Sir William Denison. The 1867 flood washed it away, so a new bridge was designed by Gustavus Alphonse Morrell and built by P. N. Russell & Co. in 1869–1870, 100 metres downstream. It carried the Great Western Highway until the early 1990s, when the Evans Bridge took over and it became a footbridge.

The name Denison honours Sir William Denison, who opened the first timber bridge on this river in 1856; when floods destroyed it in 1867, the replacement kept the name. The 1870 opening was marked by a ceremony led by the Earl of Belmore, then Governor. An interpretive sign at the bridge describes the river and the people who once swam there.

The bridge is now closed to vehicles and reserved for pedestrians, so cross on foot from the Bathurst side of the Macquarie River. A separate steel footbridge was added on the upstream side in 1950. Look for the four lamp standards, two at each end, and the original makers' sign reading "DENISON BRIDGE P. N. Russell & Co."

The bridge's ironwork was largely made locally: most angle irons and bars were rolled at P. N. Russell & Co's Pyrmont Rolling Mills and at two Bathurst foundries, including the nearby Denison Foundry. Only heavy plates and bars were imported, and the cast-iron pier cylinders were cast in Sydney using pig-iron from the Fitzroy Iron Works.