Alfords Point Bridge

The existing three-lane Alfords Point Bridge was opened on 7 September 1973 and links the suburbs of Padstow Heights in the City of Bankstown and Alfords Point in the Sutherland Shire. It replaced a vehicular ferry which operated between Lugarno and Illawong further downstream, although the ferry continued to operate into 1974. Since its opening, traffic on Alfords Point Bridge has been managed by a ‘tidal flow’ system, in which two of the three lanes operate northbound during the morning peak, switching to two lanes operating southbound during the evening peak.

At the time the existing bridge was built, the piles and abutments for a second bridge were also constructed and in February 2007, the Roads and Traffic Authority commenced work to duplicate the Bridge.

The new bridge will look similar to the existing bridge and therefore will have minimal impact on the visual amenity of the area. It will be constructed on the existing piles and abutments, and will provide two lanes for southbound traffic, and breakdown lane/shoulder and a 3.3m wide shared pedestrian and cyclist path. Once the new bridge is built, the existing bridge will be converted to two lanes for northbound traffic with a breakdown lane/shoulder. Construction work will take approximately 18 months to complete.

Como Railway Bridges

A railway bridge was constructed across the Georges River at Como when the Illawarra railway line was extended to Sutherland in 1885.

It was a lattice girder type bridge, 956 feet long with four main girders, and cross girders carried longitudinal girders to support the single rail track. It was supported by round steel pillars set on concrete bases.

Although there were separate up and down tracks on each side of the river, only one train could cross the bridge at a time and by the mid 1960’s it became evident that the river crossing needed to be duplicated. A new bridge was designed in 1968 and construction was completed in 1972.

The new bridge comprises seven spans of adjacent concrete box girders each carrying a ballasted rail track. Each girder is 48 metres long and is simply supported on rocker and roller bearings. These are post–tensioned with Macalloy bars and consist of pre-cast segments with insitu joints and cantilevers.

The old bridge which carries the Woronora water pipeline over the Georges River linking the Penshurst reservoirs to southern dams was converted to a cycle way and walkway allowing people to cross between Oatley to Como.

Carss Bush Park

Carss Bush Park is located on the western shoreline of Kogarah Bay, about 1 Km from the Tom Ugly’s Bridge.

It has an enclosed saltwater swimming area, sandy beach, a considerable amount of grassed area, children’s play equipment and bar b ques where families gather to enjoy the area.

The park is accessible from Princes Highway along Carwar Avenue at Carss Park or from a number of streets in Blakehurst. Other sporting facilities are adjacent to the park including an Olympic pool.

Carss’ Cottage, the original home of William Carss and his family who purchased the estate in 1863 is located on a headland overlooking the recreational area. It is one of the oldest properties in the district and is now home to the Kogarah Historical Society. The house is open to the public at weekends. William Carss is buried in the park and there is a marble monument to his memory.

Kogarah Municipal Council purchased the whole of the Carss estate in 1923 following pressure from the local community. It dedicated 50 acres for public use and auctioned the balance, representing 374 home sites.

The suburb surrounding the park is known as Carss Park.

For a detailed history about the development of Carss Park, see the Kogarah Municipal Council website at http://www.kogarah.nsw.gov.au/www/html/489-carss-park.asp

Kogarah Bay

Kogarah Bay lies on the northern side of the Georges River between the Tom Ugly’s and Captain Cook Bridges.

See the satellite image of Kogarah Bay between the two bridges from Google Maps Use the navigation keys to see the surrounding area and the Georges River with its bays and bridges.

Kogarah is from an aboriginal word meaning rushes or place of reeds.The bay is about 1/2 Km wide at its mouth and runs towards Kogarah for about 4 Km.

The St George Motor Boat Club is located on the eastern shore of the bay close to its mouth. On the western side opposite the Club is Carss Park, a picturesque recreation ground and enclose swimming pool.

Many homes are built along the shores of the bay which lends its name to the suburb along its western shoreline. At its end, there is a large playing field with the Beverley Park Golf Club adjacent. The playing field was built on land reclaimed from the bay.

These pictures show various views of the bay, river and bridges.

Tom Uglys Bridge

A hand operated ferry was introduced in 1864 to allow vehicles to cross the Georges River from Blakehurst to Sylvania. This was replaced in 1882 by a steam punt and a number of these continued to operate into the 1920s by which time the volume of motor traffic caused serious delays in crossing the river.

A proposal for a bridge across the Georges River in this vicinity was considered as far back as 1891 but no action ensured. At its meeting on 16 May 1923, Sutherland Shire Council decided to initiate moves with the NSW state government to finance a bridge itself. The state government acted quickly and on 12 December 1923 passed the Georges River Act that included the provision that tolls be levied to repay the money to be borrowed by the Council. The estimated cost of the bridge was 190,000 pounds ($380,000) and the final cost was 308,509 pounds ($617,018). Tolls were levied until 31 May 1952 when they had generated enough revenue to meet all loan indebtedness.

The original bridge shown above was designed by the Department of Public Works under the direction of Percy Allan, Chief Engineer for National and Local Government Works and consists of six steel through Platt truss with overhead bracing above the traffic and three deck plate web girders spanning a total of 499 metres. Each truss is 69.5 metres and each of the three approach steel girders span 27.4 metres. There is a 4.5 metre footpath on the western side and the bridge is 10.4 metres between kerbs. The bridge has a concrete deck supported on steel buckled plates between steel stringers.

The bridge was opened on 11 May 1929 and replaced two vehicular ferries each carrying 30 vehicles. The bridge has three lanes of traffic and flow was adjusted to cater for peak volumes of traffic, two lanes in one direction and one in the other. The bridge was originally known as the Georges River Bridge but was renamed the Tom Ugly’s Bridge after construction of the Captain Cook Bridge in 1965 and Alfords Point Bridge in 1973. It took its new name from the southernmost part of Blakehurst, known as Tom Ugly’s Point.

A second bridge was built adjacent to alleviate traffic congestion and opened on 17 October 1987. The new bridge comprises three continuous steel boxes, incrementally launched from the Sylvania shore, and topped with a concrete deck. The bridge was designed to carry three lanes of traffic south allowing the original bridge to carry three lanes of traffic north. However, the new bridge is wide enough to accommodate four lanes of traffic if required in the future. The bridges link the St George area at Blakehurst with the Sutherland Shire at Sylvania.

Currently major maintenance is being undertaken on the original bridge and the newer bridge now has three southbound lanes and one northbound lane while the original bridge has been reduced to two northbound lanes to allow space to replace safety rails and to repaint.

This picture shows the newer bridge in the foreground with the older bridge behind and is taken from Sans Souci across the entrance to Kogarah Bay.

Bridges over the Georges

There are a number of major bridges over the Georges River including (from its mouth) Captain Cook Bridge which replaced a vehicular ferry in 1965, Tom Uglys Bridge which replaced a vehicular ferry in 1929 and Alfords Point Bridge which replaced a vehicular ferry (at Lugarno) in 1973.

Other crossings over the river include the South Western freeway at Hammonville and again at Liverpool, Milperra Bridge at Chipping Norton, William Long Bridge at Warwick Farm, Newbridge Road at Liverpool and Cambridge Road at Glenfield (via a causeway).

Major railway crossings over the Georges River are at Como (Illawarra line) and at East Hills and again between Moorebank and Macquarie Fields (East Hills line). There is also a pedestrian bridge over the river at Como (the original railway bridge).

Future entries will focus on some of these bridges.

The entrance to the Georges

This photo taken from the Wikipedia free encyclopedia http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Uglys_Bridge shows the vast waterway at the entrance to the Georges River and further south on the far right, the entrance to Port Hacking.

The Captain Cook and Tom Uglys Bridges are visible in the centre left with a speed boat between them. Kogarah Bay is on the far left also between the two bridges.The river flows into Botany Bay on the far top left (above the Captain Cook Bridge) . Cronulla Beach is at the top of the picture with the Pacific Ocean beyond.

Oatley Bay is visible on the bottom left and the river continues its course westward on the bottom right corner of the picture. The bay in the centre right is Oyster Bay and the bay at the centre top is Woolooware Bay.