A New Life for the Old Nowra Bridge
A New Life for the Old Nowra Bridge - Transport for NSW
Transcript
00:00In 2014, Transport for NSW asked the community what they wanted to happen with the old Nowra
00:07Bridge once the new Nowra Bridge project is complete.
00:11Your feedback told us that you wanted the bridge retained.
00:13There's been a campaign over a really long period of time for people to make sure the
00:17bridge stays and to make sure that it's protected.
00:20Key elements raised included use for cyclists and pedestrians, use as a place that incorporates
00:26heritage of the bridge and the river, including the local Aboriginal heritage, to incorporate
00:30aspects to make the old bridge a tourist attraction for the region, and incorporation of interactive
00:35elements within the bridge.
00:37You could use, plant trees and shrubs and seeds and people could have picnics and coffee
00:43there.
00:44Obviously we'd like to see some cycling orientated infrastructure and features on the old new
00:49bridge.
00:51Pictures of the past and how it was built and all that sort of thing on the bridge.
00:57More pathways and more picnic areas where we can enjoy the view.
01:00Obviously the bridge is 140 years old and it needs a lot of maintenance to bring it
01:03back up to a safe standard.
01:04We've seen a lot of corrosion over that time.
01:07There's going to be about 18 months to 2 years worth of work to enable us to repaint and
01:11undertake some structural repairs of the bridge elements.
01:14The bridge is 342 metres long and it's around 6 metres wide in its current configuration.
01:19I think an indication of how important it was is that when it was opened at the ceremony
01:26there were something like 7 or 8,000 people reported being there, which is far in excess
01:32of the population.
01:33It's the only bridge in New South Wales that takes traffic of a Whipple Trust Bridge, so
01:38it does have fairly significant heritage values for the state and for Australia as well, so
01:43we do have to be mindful of those constraints in any repurposing activities that we undertake
01:47as part of the rehabilitation and repurposing of the bridge.
01:50So the bridge will remain a Transport for New South Wales infrastructure asset and we
01:54will look after and maintain the bridge as long as it's safe to do so.
01:57There is a great level of community support in making sure that it is activated and continued
02:01to be used into the future for future generations.