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

Most important to the ongoing viability of the local centre of the Swanbourne Village is the central connectivity of pedestrians and cyclists through the village on both sides of the railway line. Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA) will be locating the new replacement bridge, primarily to serve vehicle traffic, to align with Saladin Street on the Claremont Crescent side and to join Railway Street adjacent to Windsor Street. While this proposed new vehicle bridge will adequately serve its purpose in providing for vehicles, it does not provide any connectivity between commercial areas.

In my scheme for the future sustainability of the Swanbourne Village, I have proposed a replacement bridge to serve only pedestrians and cyclists at the location of the existing bridge. This location has provided the connectivity of the village for over 100 years. The proposed new pedestrian bridge also makes the proposed new civic spaces viable as they central zone of the village caters exclusively for pedestrians.

The proposed new bridge also provides safe access for pedestrians to the train station.
MRWA have advised that the existing bridge in this location does not provide sufficient headroom clearance for trains as part of the Public Transport Authorities (PTA) ongoing improvement of such compliance.

The proposed new pedestrian bridge caters for this PTA increased clearance requirement for trains while addressing the resulting higher ramping levels on either side of the bridge.

When contemplating a design solution for a proposed new pedestrian and cyclist bridge, as is the case with all of my design work, I strive to find what is the essence of a place so that the completed design provides community with a ‘memory of place’.

Searching for what could represent the essence of this place in Swanbourne, I found a rich history from which to draw from, some of this history as follows. The existing Swanbourne bridge was used as a viewing point by the local community as they wished our Western Australian soldiers well on their way to Fremantle to sail out to the second world war. In 1957 the Campbell Barracks military base was established in the coast side location within Swanbourne. Not far from the existing bridge is the John Burridge Military Antiques shop, that has been in existence since John’s return from duty in Vietnam in 1970.

Further design influence has come from the ‘time capsule capture’ of the original native vegetation within the PTA railway reserve. Within the railway reserve can be found an abundance of distinctive Balga trees, some of which have been in that location for over three hundred years.

The result is a design of a single span bridge that symbolically reflects the vegetation of the Balga tree, while also symbolically representing the influence of the military presence within Swanbourne. The iconic Australian army ‘rising sun’ badge, as seen on slouch hats, is reflected in the design of the bridge. The bridge itself serves as the perfect place to observe both the sun rise and sunsets due to the open nature of the outlook to both the east and west along the railway line.

Then finally, and for some, most importantly, the bridge symbolises the beer once served at the former Swanbourne Hotel, being that of Emu Export and Emu Bitter (along with Swan Larger of course). The logo of the Emu Brewery contains the radiating light of sun beam from a rising / or setting sun. Back at a time when localism was something to be proud of as each state of Australia had its own ‘home town’ beer.

The design sees construction from folded and laser cut Corten mild steel as the base and sides, structurally spaning the railway line. Webmesh stainless steel wire mesh of an appropriately small opening aperture provides the separation of people from the railway lien to the satisfactory of the authorities while allowing bridge users to enjoy free outlook from the bridge.

For such a bridge to come into existence, it will require funding from State and Local government. I believe that the State Government of Western Australia would greatly benefit from financially supporting the design and construction of the proposed new pedestrian / cyclist bridge as the bridge will allow them to showcase the Swanbourne Village as a centre of excellence for their METRONET scheme.

Go back to the The Future of Swanbourne Village

The Bridging Communities Series