Bridge 3202, Kokeby East Rd, over Avon River, Beverley

Values

• The place is representative of the growth of railways in the Gold Boom period.
• The place is representative of the growth of settlement in the Wheatbelt region during the Gold Boom period.
• The place is a representative example of a substantial timber trestle bridge.

Physical Description

Bridge 3202, Kokeby East Rd, over Avon River, Beverley consists of timber road bridge of the trestle configuration, oriented northeast-southwest where it crosses the Avon River, approximately 600 m east of the Kokeby railway siding, and approximately 12.5 km south-southeast of the Beverley townsite. The bridge is constructed of 18 spans, the overall structure measuring is approximately 113 m long, 4 m wide, and sits more than 3 m from the bottom of the Avon River. The bridge lies on driven timber log piles, of which a number have now been replaced by galvanised steel “I” beams set into concrete bases. Many of the remaining timber log piles have been provided with extra reinforcement through galvanised steel straps. Extra support for these piles would have existed in the form of sawn timber whaling, which has since been replaced with paired galvanised steel “C” beams. The piles would have originally supported pairs of sawn timber plank halfcaps – these have now been replaced with paired galvanised steel “I” beams. These beams lie under timber log corbels, which support and spread the load of the timber log stringers above them. Above this lies the bridge deck, consisting of very thick sawn timber planks, which are still visible from the sides of the bridge. The timber deck has since been overlain with bitumen and concrete.

History

In the Beverley area, the Aboriginal groups lived for tens of thousands of years, practising a nomadic lifestyle of extended family groups that utilised the natural resources of the area with a deep cultural respect for the land itself. The area of Bridge 3202, Kokeby East Rd, over Avon River, Beverley lies within the boundaries of the Ballardong people, part of the larger Noongar language group of the State’s south-west. This way of life began to be disrupted after 1826 when a British settlement was established at King George Sound, followed by the formal declaration of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Following explorations of the area by Ensign Robert Dale in 1830, land grants in the Beverley area were issued in 1831, and British settlers began to move into the region. Most of the colonisation occurred further north, along the Avon River in the areas of Toodyay, Northam and York, and by the 1840s the Beverley was largely targeted by pastoralists and small-scale farms. The arrival of convicts in the 1850s, though only grudgingly accepted by the Beverley farmers, did see the expansion of roads and bridges as well as an expansion of farming to meet the demand of the new arrivals. A small town centre began took shape around Edward’s Crossing, the junction of several small roads and the Avon river, but the land was deemed unsuitable and in 1868 the town site of Beverley was declared further downstream.

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update