Part of a series of posts by Neil Cownie on The Future of Swanbourne Village

What can we learn from examining the current Seventh Avenue Bridge and its predecessor? At the site of the existing bridge there is a convenient reminder of the history of the bridge in this location and images of what the original bridge looked like.

The original bridge of 1913 was a very long bridge over a flat area; with one end of the bridge taking advantage of an adjacent hill to obtain some elevation at the start of the bridge. The bridge of timber framed construction was a spindly looking thing with cross bracing to obtain structural stability.

Notably the underside of the bridge had an ‘open’ feel about it thanks to the thinness of the supporting structure. The bridge itself was quite open with no barriers other than a balustrade to both sides.

A few remnants of the original timber bridge structure have been used to create a sort of sculptural memorial to the original bridge. This timber ‘memorial’ is nestled into the base of the new concrete bridge, with the monolithic nature of the new bridge structure greatly contrasting with the tactile thin timber of the original bridge.

It is unfortunate that this old bridge ‘memorial’ feels more like a sad token after thought at reflecting the past rather than taking the feel of the old bridge as a cue in the design of the new bridge.

The new bridge is a heavy concrete structure fashioned in a matter of fact, utilitarian sort of way. In what looks like a desperate attempt to achieve a compliant pedestrian standard gradient to access the bridge from the adjacent pavement, a series of ramps wind their way up hill, forever fighting against the fact that the pavement level falls at a similar rate. The result is a busy clutter of ramps, retaining walls and shiny stainless-steel balustrades.

Once again, painted effects over the robust utilitarian concrete structure seems to be the only concession to any element of ‘design’.

With a design led team, the design of a replacement bridge for the existing Swanbourne Village Bridge can suitably reflect the history of the precinct while serving the needs of vehicle traffic and the many other important community related parameters.

Images by Neil Cownie.

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The Bridging Communities Series