Bridge 4512, Scott Street over Helena River

Values

• The place demonstrates the widespread use of timber as a structural material in early twentieth century bridge construction.
• The place is associated with the growth of regional infrastructure in the early twentieth century.
• The place demonstrates the characteristics of a medium sized timber road bridge built in the inter-war period, although later repairs have impacted this development.

Physical Description

Bridge 4512, Scott Street, over Helena River, Helena Valley is a double lane timber and steel road bridge spanning Helena River, approximately 2.5 km south of the suburb of Greenmount. The bridge is approximately 44.0 m long, 10.77 m wide and sits approximately 1 m above the creek bed at its highest point. The bridge consists of 6 spans constructed along a north-northeast to south-southwest axis. The bridge abutments consist of dressed timber laid against an earth embankment, with a foundation of random masonry rubble concreted together. The first set of round timber log piles and halfcaps are hard up against the timber wall to give further support.

History

Noongar people living in the southwest of the continent during the pre- and early contact period can broadly be described as comprising small family groups moving through the landscape in response to seasonal change, utilising a toolkit of wooden and flaked stone tools and grinding stones, notably of quartz, dolerite and chert. The artistic culture of the Noongar people was expressed in painted and engraved art in a wide variety of forms, relating to a complex spiritual worldview that incorporated a connection to the natural world, and the remembrance or ongoing influence of ancestral and spiritual figures. In the region around Byford, the Noongar groups were known as the Whadjuk, comprising small family groups moving through the landscape in response to seasonal change, utilising a toolkit of wooden and flaked stone tools and grinding stones, notably of quartz, dolerite and chert. The artistic culture of the Nyungar people was expressed in painted and engraved art of a wide variety of forms, relating to a complex spiritual worldview that incorporated a connection to the natural world, and the remembrance or ongoing influence of ancestral/totemic figures. Bridge 4512, Scott Street, over Helena River, Helena Valley crosses Registered Aboriginal Site 3758 Helena River. In 1829, this way of life was disrupted by the arrival of British settlers, who established a colony in the Swan River in 1829, and quickly spread into the surrounding countryside. A location within the Helena Valley was granted to settler Henry Camfield in 1831, which was developed into a mixed cropping farm and orchard. Other farms were established in the area, changing hands a number of times over the next few decades.4 After the turn of the century, the farming properties in the area were subdivided into smaller properties, spurring the development of local roads.

Uses

Creation Date

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