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TRESTLE BRIDGE
ARUNDEL ROAD AND ARUNDEL ROAD KEILOR, BRIMBANK CITY, HUME CITY

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Victorian Heritage Register
TRESTLE BRIDGE SOHE 2008
TRESTLE BRIDGE SOHE 2008
TRESTLE BRIDGE SOHE 2008
1 trestle bridge toward new bridge may01
Trestle Bridge Footing Detail May 2001
Trestle bridge tresle detail May 2001
trestle bridge plan
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Overnewton Estate in Keilor was one of the earliest estates in Victoria to be acquired under the Victorian Closer Settlement Act on 29 May 1905. The Closer Settlement scheme is important to the State of Victoria as one of sequence of Government schemes from the 1860s onwards, which aimed at promoting closer settlement and agricultural development of the State. The Closer Settlement Act entitled the government to compulsorily acquire up to £500,000 worth of private land per year. Arundel Estate was one division of the original Overnewton Estate and was the first of the subdivisions undertaken in the Keilor district. Access to the Estate was impassable in wet weather hence the Shire of Keilor and the Closer Settlement Board raised the funds to construct a bridge across the Maribyrnong River at Arundel. The Closer Settlement Board initially contributed no more than £300 toward the construction of the bridge. They then raised this amount to £400 after council representatives suggested that selections would not be successful without the bridge.

Construction of the bridge began in May 1906. Works were slowed by a dispute over the supply of suitable timber. Half of the completed bridge was washed away after the flood in September and the bridge was then redesigned and lengthened. The new work began in early 1907 and the bridge was officially opened in September 1907.

Restoration work to the bridge was carried out from 1977-8. Lobbying by the ‘Friends of the Maribyrnong’ helped to prevent demolition of the old bridge as part of the new bridge works. The Trestle Bridge was repaired to take pedestrian and equestrian traffic only, and the new bridge took over the flow of vehicular traffic in 1989. More restoration work was undertaken from 1996-7 after vandalism had forced its closure during 1991.

The Arundel Trestle Bridge is a substantial structure of 9 spans, 72 meters in length, 3.7 metres wide with a slight slope toward the southern embankment. It features a two pile-pier system of construction. The original transverse deck has been replaced with longitudinal planks. Extra piles were added on either side of the piers in the river to stabilise the bridge against floods and compensate for the deterioration of the original piles.

How is it significant?
The Arundel Trestle Bridge is historically and technically significant to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?

The Arundel Trestle Bridge is historically significant as an item public infrastructure directly related to the Closer Settlement Scheme. The Arundel Bridge was the first major public work in Victoria to be completed under the Closer Settlement Scheme. The only other comparable public works commenced under the Closer Settlements Boards public expenditure list during the period of the scheme, were levee walls on the Wyuna Irrigation Estate. The bridge was an essential link to Melbourne for the market gardeners established under the scheme, who required frequent and reliable access in all weathers to the city markets.

The Arundel Trestle Bridge is historically significant as a characteristic example of public works under the Closer Settlement Scheme. Local authorities typically carried out public works funded by the Closer Settlement Board, and the vernacular timber construction of the trestle bridge demonstrates the outcome of this approach. The Trestle Bridge remains in its original context, located close to the active Keilor market gardens on the Maribyrnong flood plain.

The Arundel Trestle Bridge is of technological significance as an example of a type of bridge structure common at the beginning of the century but which is now becoming rare due to deterioration and replacement with modern structures. The Trestle Bridge is also a rare example of the type in or close to the metropolitan area. Most timber bridges are now found in more isolated country areas such as South Gippsland.

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    • History

      TRESTLE BRIDGE - History

      CONTEXTUAL HISTORY
      Under the Closer Settlement Act of 1904, the Government was required to compulsorily acquire up to 50,000 pounds worth of private land annually. The Overnewton Estate in Keilor was perhaps the third or fourth estate purchased under the Victorian Closer Settlement Act on 29 May 1905.

      HISTORY OF PLACE
      A portion of the 11,336-acre estate known as the Arundel Estate was described as having good agricultural, dairying and grazing land. Access to the Estate was impassable in wet weather, hence the Shire of Keilor and the Closer Settlement Board raised 400 pounds to construct a bridge across the river at Arundel. The Council accepted a tender of 520 pounds/15 and this was increased by 40 pounds when superior ironbark was chosen instead of messmate for the bridge piles and construction began in May 1906. The construction process was not smooth and not without its setbacks. 12 inch Messmate beams were used instead of the 14-inch as required, deck spikes were only 9.5 mm instead of 11mm and when arguments were rife and not satisfactorily resolved, the dispute between the Council and the contractor halted progress and legal action was threatened.

      A flood in September reached the highest watermark in 50 years and washed half of the completed bridge away. As a result the bridge was redesigned, the beams fixed at 14 inches and it was lengthened from 180 ft to 245 ft (75 metres). The new work began in early 1907 and was under a new contract by the bridge builders firm Ross Fraser and Patience for 581/5 pounds. During this time the Arundel Estate had been settled and the Ministry for Mines had sourced a good supply of domestic quality water at Overnewton. In addition, twelve bores with windmills had been established, a number of substantial houses completed, and fencing and planting of trees for stock was advancing. Population in the area was at this time 129. The Arundel Bridge was the first major public work to be completed under the Closer Settlement Scheme (Maloney, D. National Trust Citation 23 July 1991). The only other significant work between 1905-1907 under the Closer Settlements Boards public expenditure list, was constructing levee walls on the Wyuna Irrigation Estate.

      Restoration work was carried out in 1977-8 and more recently 1996-7, after vandalism forced its closure during 1991. During this time there was local lobbying to retain the trestle bridge because the original plans of the Keilor Council were to demolish the structure and put the new concrete dual lane bridge in its place. However, the lobbying by the ‘Friends of the Maribyrnong’ proved successful, despite tenders for its demolition already having taken place. The trestle bridge was repaired to take pedestrian and equestrian traffic only, and the new bridge, built adjacent to the original, took over the flow of vehicular traffic in 1989.

      The bridge is a substantial structure of 9 spans, 72 meters in length, 3.7 metres wide with a slight slope toward the southern embankment and it features a two pile-pier system of construction. Arundel was the first of the subdivisions undertaken in the Keilor district under the Closer Settlement Scheme. The trestle bridge is in close proximity to the wrought iron girder bridge over the Maribyrnong River and a number of other bridges within close proximity.

      References:
      Maloney, D. National Trust Citation 23 July 1991
      Vines, G. Brimbank City Council Post-contact Cultural Heritage Study. Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West. 2000

      Permit Exemptions

      TRESTLE BRIDGE - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

      Specific Exemptions:

      General Conditions:
      1. All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place or object.
      2. Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of alterations that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place or object are revealed which relate to the significance of the place or object, then the exemption covering such alteration shall cease and the Executive Director shall be notified as soon as possible.
      3. If there is a conservation policy and plan approved by the Executive Director, all works shall be in accordance with it.
      4. Nothing in this declaration prevents the Executive Director from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
      Nothing in this declaration exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits from the responsible authority where applicable.

      Exemptions:
      * All maintenance and repair works to the new concrete bridge
      * Emergency works to make the trestle bridge safe
      * Repairs and maintenance to the trestle bridge which replace like with like

      Permit Exemption Policy

      TRESTLE BRIDGE - Permit Exemption Policy

      Timber trestle bridges were originally designed so that various elements could be replaced. The significant aspects of the bridge are its design and materials.
      Replacement of major elements with new fabric of the same materials and size is thus not considered a problem, and should be possible under the permit process.
      Replacement of minor elements such as decking planks should be possible under the exemption for replacement of like with like.

Public contributions

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