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Myrtle Creek Bridge
Don Road crossing of Myrtle Creek, 8 km north of Launching Place,, DON VALLEY VIC 3139 - Property No B7032
Myrtle Creek Bridge
Don Road crossing of Myrtle Creek, 8 km north of Launching Place,, DON VALLEY VIC 3139 - Property No B7032
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National Trust
B7032 Myrtle Creek Bridge
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Statement of Significance
The Myrtle Creek timber-beam bridge, originally constructed to CRB-approved plans in 1930, is historically and aesthetically significant at State level. As an all-timber road bridge with a beautifully curving timber deck enhanced by its longitudinal-timber planks, it is a good example of an extremely rare bridge type in Victoria. The Country Roads Board changed its standard bridge plans from transverse-timber to longitudinal-timber motor decks after 1931, and the curving deck of the Myrtle Creek Bridge has been modified to the later pattern. This feature clearly distinguishes it from its equally remarkable contemporary, the Bete Bolong Creek Bridge on the Buchan-Orbost Road in East Gippsland.
The Don Road goes back to the 1880s, but the beginning of proper construction of the current route dates from World War 1 when the Upper Yarra Shire section out from Launching Place was officially designated a Country Roads Board Main Road. In the 1920s the Don Road's main mountainous section was officially designated Country Roads Board Developmental Road, with the aim of encouraging development of adjacent forest reserves and rich potential farmland. The current Myrtle Creek Bridge dates from that historic epoch of widespread investment of government loan funds in rural road-and-bridge systems, and is an attractive relic of that early government 'Developmental Road'.
The Myrtle Creek Bridge's neatly curving timber frame is enhanced by its compact three-span design. Its main timber-beam span is of unusual length (9.3 metres) for such a structure, and with the two shorter minor spans one at either end, contributes to its distinctive symetrical form.
It is this very rare shape and beautiful timber form in an equally beautiful fern-gully setting on an historic CRB Developmental Road, that make this bridge an important part of Victoria's heritage. Although the lyre birds noted by 1880s road builders no longer adorn the Don Road, the route remains a delightful motoring trail for tourists in the Healesville-Upper Yarra region. The eucalypts and tree ferns associated with the Myrtle Creek crossing place provide an unusual and delightful context for this rare gem of a curved-deck timber-beam bridge.
Classified: 08/11/1999
The Don Road goes back to the 1880s, but the beginning of proper construction of the current route dates from World War 1 when the Upper Yarra Shire section out from Launching Place was officially designated a Country Roads Board Main Road. In the 1920s the Don Road's main mountainous section was officially designated Country Roads Board Developmental Road, with the aim of encouraging development of adjacent forest reserves and rich potential farmland. The current Myrtle Creek Bridge dates from that historic epoch of widespread investment of government loan funds in rural road-and-bridge systems, and is an attractive relic of that early government 'Developmental Road'.
The Myrtle Creek Bridge's neatly curving timber frame is enhanced by its compact three-span design. Its main timber-beam span is of unusual length (9.3 metres) for such a structure, and with the two shorter minor spans one at either end, contributes to its distinctive symetrical form.
It is this very rare shape and beautiful timber form in an equally beautiful fern-gully setting on an historic CRB Developmental Road, that make this bridge an important part of Victoria's heritage. Although the lyre birds noted by 1880s road builders no longer adorn the Don Road, the route remains a delightful motoring trail for tourists in the Healesville-Upper Yarra region. The eucalypts and tree ferns associated with the Myrtle Creek crossing place provide an unusual and delightful context for this rare gem of a curved-deck timber-beam bridge.
Classified: 08/11/1999
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MYRTLE CREEK BRIDGE
Victorian Heritage Register H1855 -
Myrtle Creek Bridge
National Trust H1855 -
Coonara
Yarra Ranges Shire
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