Fig Tree Bridge, Road bridge in New South Wales, Australia
Fig Tree Bridge spans the Lane Cove River with a concrete girder structure, connecting Hunters Hill to Linley Point in Sydney's metropolitan area. It carries Burns Bay Road and provides separate pathways for pedestrians and cyclists.
The first Fig Tree Bridge, an iron truss swing bridge, opened in 1885 as part of the first project to provide a fixed crossing of Sydney Harbour, alongside the 1881 Gladesville and 1882 Iron Cove bridges. It stood about 50 metres west of the present crossing; opening its span took an hour and four workers to turn the gearwheel. The current concrete girder bridge opened on 28 September 1963, built with the Tarban Creek and Gladesville bridges for the planned North Western Expressway, which was cancelled.
The wheel that once operated the original bridge's opening span stands as a memorial beside the current crossing. The old swing bridge took an hour to open, and four workers were needed to turn its gearwheel system. Its southern abutment survives, with a viewing platform reached from the end of Joubert Street in Hunters Hill.
The bridge carries Burns Bay Road between Hunters Hill and Linley Point, about seven kilometres northwest of Sydney's central business district. A grade-separated footpath and cycleway runs alongside the motor traffic. The surviving southern abutment of the 1885 swing bridge, with its viewing platform, is reached from the end of Joubert Street in Hunters Hill.
The deck's camber is deliberately off-centre, its apex shifted from the centreline because the piers and deck were built to take two more lanes. The extra capacity was never added, so the asymmetry remains visible to anyone crossing. The bridge was built for the North Western Expressway, a scheme that was cancelled.
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