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The Causeway
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The Causeway
The Causeway is an arterial traffic crossing in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner-city suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It is carried over the Swan River at the eastern end of Perth Water by two bridges on either side of Heirisson Island. The current Causeway is the third structure to have been built across the river at this point.
Originally the site of mudflats which restricted river navigation, the Colony Government constructed a causeway and bridge across the site. The project was first planned in 1834 and opened in 1843. When floods in 1862 almost destroyed it, the structure was rebuilt using convict labour, and raised to better withstand future floods. Governor John Hampton officially opened the new Causeway on 12 November 1867. Over the following decades, the three bridges making up this second Causeway were widened several times, and they were eventually replaced in 1952.
The current Causeway bridges were designed by E W C Godfrey, and built between 1947 and 1952. They were the first in Western Australia to use steel composite construction. Large roundabouts were also constructed at each end of the structure, to improve the flow of traffic. The opening of the Graham Farmer Freeway in 2000 reduced the traffic volume on the Causeway, allowing the two central lanes to be turned into bus lanes. By the early 2000s, the concrete structures had suffered significant damage. Cracks were repaired using carbon fibre reinforcement and localised patching, extending the bridge's life by decades. The Causeway bridges have been recognised for their heritage value by their entry on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places.
Following the settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the Swan River was the main transportation link between Perth and the port of Fremantle. Land transportation was difficult as the only river crossing near Perth, a ford at the eastern end of the town, was often impassable for wagons and carts. The next crossing point was 32 kilometres (20 mi) upstream at Guildford, a major detour. The only alternative to these river crossings were ferries, which operated from North Fremantle, Preston Point, and the Narrows.
Soon after the colony was founded, settlers lobbied for the construction of a road across the mudflats in the Swan River at the eastern end of the town. A preliminary survey of the site was conducted in 1834 by the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, George Fletcher Moore, together with Surveyor General John Septimus Roe. A public meeting on 17 February 1837 passed a resolution urging the colony's government to construct the road at the site, and Roe showed the public plans for the proposed causeway. A year later, in January 1838, the Perth Gazette noted that preliminary work had been carried out towards building the Causeway, which is thought to have been the upgrading of Adelaide Terrace from the "bush track" it was previously.
A committee was set up in October 1838 to investigate the viability of a causeway at the site. On 16 February 1839 plans which had been prepared by Roe were submitted by the committee's chairman to Henry Trigg, the Superintendent of Public Works. Trigg called for other plans and prepared estimates. At a meeting of the committee on 27 February 1839, Trigg submitted a plan designed by Frederick Irwin, which was estimated to cost £2,300, equivalent to A$280,900 in 2022. The committee cut the estimated figure to £1,800, equivalent to A$219,900 in 2022, and waited for Governor Hutt to specify how much could be funded by the government.
This original causeway consisted of a central bridge (for river navigation), with a raised rampart on either side. The first pile of the central bridge was driven home on 2 November 1840. The bridge was completed in 1841, costing £449 10s, equivalent to A$54,900 in 2022, although the approaches to the bridge took longer to complete. The Causeway was sufficiently completed in January 1842 to be used by horsemen, and the Causeway was finally finished in May 1843 at a total cost of £1,814 10s, equivalent to A$271,400 in 2022. It was officially opened on 24 May 1843 by J. W. Hardey, the chairman of the Road Trust, in the presence of only one other person, one of his friends.
The Causeway was originally a toll road, and costs for crossing ranged from one penny (1d), equivalent to A$0.62 in 2022, for a person on foot to six pence (6d), equivalent to A$3.74 in 2022, for a horse-drawn cart. The tolls were subject to an additional levy of 50 per cent during the night hours. The tolls were later removed, and it appears to have been Perth's only toll road.
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The Causeway
The Causeway is an arterial traffic crossing in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner-city suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It is carried over the Swan River at the eastern end of Perth Water by two bridges on either side of Heirisson Island. The current Causeway is the third structure to have been built across the river at this point.
Originally the site of mudflats which restricted river navigation, the Colony Government constructed a causeway and bridge across the site. The project was first planned in 1834 and opened in 1843. When floods in 1862 almost destroyed it, the structure was rebuilt using convict labour, and raised to better withstand future floods. Governor John Hampton officially opened the new Causeway on 12 November 1867. Over the following decades, the three bridges making up this second Causeway were widened several times, and they were eventually replaced in 1952.
The current Causeway bridges were designed by E W C Godfrey, and built between 1947 and 1952. They were the first in Western Australia to use steel composite construction. Large roundabouts were also constructed at each end of the structure, to improve the flow of traffic. The opening of the Graham Farmer Freeway in 2000 reduced the traffic volume on the Causeway, allowing the two central lanes to be turned into bus lanes. By the early 2000s, the concrete structures had suffered significant damage. Cracks were repaired using carbon fibre reinforcement and localised patching, extending the bridge's life by decades. The Causeway bridges have been recognised for their heritage value by their entry on the Western Australian Register of Heritage Places.
Following the settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the Swan River was the main transportation link between Perth and the port of Fremantle. Land transportation was difficult as the only river crossing near Perth, a ford at the eastern end of the town, was often impassable for wagons and carts. The next crossing point was 32 kilometres (20 mi) upstream at Guildford, a major detour. The only alternative to these river crossings were ferries, which operated from North Fremantle, Preston Point, and the Narrows.
Soon after the colony was founded, settlers lobbied for the construction of a road across the mudflats in the Swan River at the eastern end of the town. A preliminary survey of the site was conducted in 1834 by the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges, George Fletcher Moore, together with Surveyor General John Septimus Roe. A public meeting on 17 February 1837 passed a resolution urging the colony's government to construct the road at the site, and Roe showed the public plans for the proposed causeway. A year later, in January 1838, the Perth Gazette noted that preliminary work had been carried out towards building the Causeway, which is thought to have been the upgrading of Adelaide Terrace from the "bush track" it was previously.
A committee was set up in October 1838 to investigate the viability of a causeway at the site. On 16 February 1839 plans which had been prepared by Roe were submitted by the committee's chairman to Henry Trigg, the Superintendent of Public Works. Trigg called for other plans and prepared estimates. At a meeting of the committee on 27 February 1839, Trigg submitted a plan designed by Frederick Irwin, which was estimated to cost £2,300, equivalent to A$280,900 in 2022. The committee cut the estimated figure to £1,800, equivalent to A$219,900 in 2022, and waited for Governor Hutt to specify how much could be funded by the government.
This original causeway consisted of a central bridge (for river navigation), with a raised rampart on either side. The first pile of the central bridge was driven home on 2 November 1840. The bridge was completed in 1841, costing £449 10s, equivalent to A$54,900 in 2022, although the approaches to the bridge took longer to complete. The Causeway was sufficiently completed in January 1842 to be used by horsemen, and the Causeway was finally finished in May 1843 at a total cost of £1,814 10s, equivalent to A$271,400 in 2022. It was officially opened on 24 May 1843 by J. W. Hardey, the chairman of the Road Trust, in the presence of only one other person, one of his friends.
The Causeway was originally a toll road, and costs for crossing ranged from one penny (1d), equivalent to A$0.62 in 2022, for a person on foot to six pence (6d), equivalent to A$3.74 in 2022, for a horse-drawn cart. The tolls were subject to an additional levy of 50 per cent during the night hours. The tolls were later removed, and it appears to have been Perth's only toll road.