Spit Bridge

The Spit Bridge
The Spit Bridge with its bascule deck opened
Coordinates	33°48′09″S 151°14′46″E / 33.8025°S 151.2462°E / -33.8025; 151.2462Coordinates: 33°48′09″S 151°14′46″E / 33.8025°S 151.2462°E / -33.8025; 151.2462
Carries	The Spit Road (A8); (Road traffic, pedestrians, bicycles)
Crosses	Middle Harbour
Locale	The Spit, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Owner	Roads & Maritime Services
Heritage status	Roads & Maritime Services heritage and conservation register
Preceded by	The Spit Bridge (1924–1958)
Characteristics
Design	Girder bridge with a bascule lift span
Material	Steel and concrete
Total length	745 feet 6 inches (227.23 m)
Width	54 feet (16 m)
No. of spans	7
History
Designer	NSW Department of Main Roads
Constructed by	Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company
Construction begin	1952 (1952)
Construction end	1958 (1958)
Opened	19 November 1958 (1958-11-19)
Statistics
Daily traffic	~33,000 (2012)
References

The Spit Bridge, a steel and concrete girder bridge with a bascule lift span across the Middle Harbour, is located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of the central business district in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The bridge carries The Spit Road (A8) from a point called The Spit, and connects the suburbs of Mosman, on the south bank and Seaforth, on the north bank.

The Spit Bridge, completed in 1958, is of state significance. It is a substantial landscape feature that has played a crucial role in allowing the development of the northern beaches suburbs to occur over the last 44 years. The Bridge is also extremely rare as it is the only lift bridge still operational on a major arterial road. As such, the Spit Bridge is representative of all the major lift bridges that were once a common sight throughout NSW. The relative lack of modification to the original design of the Bridge also contributes to its level of significance. Historically the Bridge has a high level of significance developed primarily through being part of an important local transport route that has been in operation over a large period of time in several different guises. The Spit Bridge Cultural Landscape also contains the remnant features and locales of the former bridge and punt crossing and the remains of other transportation links such as the tramways. These additional items add to the significance of the Bridge through their ability to add to contextualise the current bridge as a single element of the crossing points colourful history.

Sydney's Lower North Shore and Northern Beaches were serviced by a punt operating from The Spit since the late nineteenth century up until 1924.

In 1924, The (first) Spit Bridge was completed and opened. By 1927 the timber low–level bridge saw a 60% growth over that of the punt for the year prior to the bridge opening. The amount of traffic using the bridge was higher than expected and the subsequent revenue from tolls providing a financial boon for the government. Various plans were considered to reduce congestion including a high-level bridge and a bridge further upstream, leaving the existing bridge for local traffic; however none were enacted until after World War II. The NSW Government decided to build another low–level bridge at the same site.