Garratt Road Bridge
In 1933, the Perth suburb of Bayswater introduced its first primitive Town Planning Scheme, about 30 years ahead of most other local governments of its time. This scheme reinforced the location of the already developing industrial area in the east of the district, and set aside land for future residential growth. The construction of a road bridge linking Maylands and Bayswater with Belmont, on the southern bank of the Swan River, was high on the list of priorities.
The Great Depression of the 1930's was devastating to Bayswater as much as anywhere else, with huge numbers of local residents finding themselves unemployed. Many lived in squalid conditions in tent settlements for years at a time. One such settlement was at the northern end of Beechboro Road. To assist them, Bayswater council built the all-timber Garratt Road Bridge, using male members of the tent settlement in a 'sustenance labour' workforce to erect it. Payment for their work was in food, clothing and shelter until the depression eased.
An increase in traffic caused by the development of new suburbs in the Belmont Shire led to the bridge being duplicated in the early 1970s with similar bridge. The eastern bridge carried southbound traffic to Belmont, the western bridge carries northbound traffic to Bayswater and Maylands.
Garratt Road Bridge consists of a pair of bridges across the Swan River, between Bayswater and Ascot. The upstream bridge, from 1935, carries southbound traffic, pedestrians, and two pipes, while northbound traffic travels on the 1970 downstream bridge. Both bridges are predominantly constructed from timber, and feature "timber piles driven into the river bed linked with timber cross bracing and double beams top and bottom and then spanned by timber logs which in turn support the wooden decking". The original bridge is at a lower height, and some of its beams have been replaced by Rolled Steel Joists. While both bridges have modern steel safety rails, the original white-painted wooden rail is still present along the pedestrian path. The original bridge has approximately 38 spans over 37 piers, along a 238-metre length.
The original bridge has 38 spans over a length of 236.4 metres, a width of 8.75 metres, and a deck area of 2,068.50 square metres. The road width is 8.35 metres, while the footpath width is 1.3 metres. The newer bridge has similar measurements: 38 spans over a length of 237.7 metres, width of 8.65 metres, deck area of 2,056.11 square metres, and road width of 8.21 metres. The longest spans of each bridges are 12.1 metresin length.
Garratt Road Bridge is the longest timber bridge still in existence in Western Australia. It may have been the longest ever built in the state, and the downstream bridge was probably the last wooden bridge to be built in Perth.
Before European colonisation, the area around the Garratt Road Bridge site was inhabited by the Mooro people to the north of the Swan River, and the Beeloo people to the south. Beeloo territory included the Martagarup flats, immediately south-west of the bridge site, one of their fishing grounds. The area also features in Aboriginal mythology. It is believed that the Swan River was created by the meanderings of the Wagyl, a snakelike being from Dreamtime, and that scales shed from the male Wagyl remain visible in the riverbank at Ascot.
Following the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, European settlers James Birkett and James Henty received 1,000 acres (400 ha) blocks containing the modern-day bridge site. Birkett's land was north of the river, and following his death it was sold to James Drummond in 1839. Henty's land was south of the river, and changed hands multiple times in a short timespan Henty preferred the north side of the river, and so sold his block to Philip Dod, who disliked the marsh-like quality of the land, and traded it to John Wall Hardey, founder of the Wesley Church in Perth. Hardey expanded his land, which he named Grove Farm, by buying neighbouring riverside lots.
Hardey was influential in the development of the Belmont area, as he took on the roles of Justice of the Peace, magistrate and member of the Legislative Council. Harvey lobbied for river crossings to be constructed in 1837; The Causeway was built in 1843, and a crossing over the Helena River soon followed. Horse racing began on Grove Farm in 1848, and roads were constructed using convict labour to improve access from the road to Guildford (modern-day Great Eastern Highway). In 1850 the races moved to the current site of Ascot Racecourse. With the advent of horse training facilities in 1856, a horse pulley system was set up to provide a river crossing close to the modern-day Garratt Bridge site, but east of the racecourse. Bridges were constructed in the 1880s to improve access to the races a mechanical drawbridge for pedestrians opened in 1881, and a railway bridge was built in 1885. The bridge, later known as the Belmont railway bridge, carried a spur of the Perth Guildford line that terminated south of the racecourse, but only operated on racing days.
There has been proposals for a vehicle bridge since the late 1880s; it was one of the most advocated issues in the Bayswater area. The first formal request to the Perth Road Board for a vehicular crossing between Bayswater and Belmont was made in 1904, but it was declined due to insufficient trade potential. The Belmont and Bayswater Road Boards[e] requested the state government construct a bridge, as new industries were developing in the districts. The government, however, considered there were more urgent matters than the bridge, which was estimated to cost £6000.
In 1922 the idea of a bridge was suggested again, this time as part of a circular tram line. Belmont Park and Bayswater Road Boards made a deputation to the state government on 23 February 1923, but again received an unenthusiastic response on 13 April, stating that the £9100 was not available and could not be justified. Following a public meeting in 1924, residents of Bayswater and Belmont made a direct appeal to the premier, asserting that a new bridge would reduce traffic over The Causeway, and save the cost of replacing the structure, said to be £200,000. A government survey was conducted, and three estimates were obtained which put the cost at £35,000 to £38,000 but no funding was provided.
Renewed interest in the proposed bridge came from the newly formed Town Planning Commission in 1928. Three potential sites were considered: The Town Planning Commission advocated for a bridge to the east of Ascot Racecourse, connecting to Slade Street north of the river. The Bayswater Road Board also preferred an eastern option, connecting to Epsom Avenue south of the river, while the Belmont Park Road Board recommended the crossing be further west, at Abernethy Road. The third option was at Garratt Road, midway between the eastern and western options, and was the government's final decision. Plans did not progress due to the onset of the Great Depression.
Planning for a bridge recommenced in 1933, with construction beginning the following year. Main Roads Chief Engineer Ernest Godfrey designed the bridge. Godfrey was the first bridge engineer for Main Roads, and oversaw the design of all of Main Roads' bridges statewide between 1928 and 1957. The bridge was designed and constructed economically, out of low cost local wood Wandoo, Jarrah and Karri and without treatments such as beam shaping that would have added unnecessary cost. Fill material came from levelling Ascot Racecourse, which had contained a World War I era mound in its centre. The mound had initially been used by soldiers during training, and later by children playing.
Sustenance labourers worked on the construction project, which required homes and businesses to be demolished or repositioned. Garratt Road Bridge opened on 1 January 1935, the same day as the Perth Cup, having cost £35,000 for the bridge itself, and an additional £9000 for the approaches. Like the road it connects to, the bridge is named after Mary Anne Traylen (nee Garratt). Her husband, William Traylen, named various roads in Bayswater after family members when he subdivided his land, c. 1890.
In 1956, fire wrecked the nearby Belmont railway bridge, which was then demolished. Buses became the main form of transportation across the river to Ascot Racecourse, but by that time Garratt Road Bridge was already congested due to increasing traffic.[2] The bridge was widened in 1962 to cater for the increased volume in both ways, from 8.38 metres to 10 metres. The works also allowed a 107-centimetre diameter water main to be carried, on the bridges's western side.
The 1960s saw increasing traffic volume across Garratt Road Bridge. By the end of that decade, planning was under way for another bridge at the site to cater for the increasing demand. The new bridge was planned as a short-term solution, with only a forty-year design life, as it was expected to be unnecessary once the planned Beechboro Gosnells Highway (modern-day Tonkin Highway) opened. The design of the second bridge mimicked the original bridge, especially in aesthetics and the span configuration. It was constructed downstream from the original, to carry northbound traffic. Works began in 1971, and the bridge opened on 4 July 1972.[1]:10 A new road, Resolution Drive, was constructed in 1972 to tie into the new bridge. It carried northbound traffic as part of a one-way pairing with Grandstand Road, which then only carried the southbound traffic.
