Carries Yass-Tumut Road, NSW Design Truss Opened 1931 Width 5.5 m Bridge type Truss bridge | Crosses Murrumbidgee River Longest span 45 meters Total length 200 m Location Cavan Body of water Murrumbidgee River | |
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Locale Cavan/Taemas, near Wee Jasper, NSW Maintained by Road and Maritime Services (NSW) Similar Murrumbidgee River, Burrinjuck Dam, Carey's Cave, Hampden Bridge, Murrumbidgee River Railway | ||
The Taemas Bridge is a two-lane road bridge crossing the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales, Australia. The bridge crosses on the river just before it enters Lake Burrinjuck, which has been created by the Burrinjuck Dam. The bridge is a key part of the road between Yass and Wee Jasper, and from there, to Tumut. The bridge is around 26 kilometres from Yass and 22 kilometres from Wee Jasper. The current bridge was completed in 1931 and is over 200 metres in length.
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History
A metal MacDonald Truss bridge, also known as the Taemas Bridge, was built about 1888, two miles downstream from the existing Taemas Bridge. Around 1924 this bridge was raised 15 feet and extended to 885 feet with the addition of numerous timber approach spans by the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission in association with the construction of Burrinjuck Dam. This bridge was destroyed by a flood in May 1925. The local member of the NSW Parliament, Mr Tully MLA, promised to have the destroyed Taemas Bridge replaced as soon as possible.
In the interim, the Public Works Department established a punt service adjacent to the destroyed bridge until such time as a new bridge could be constructed. The punt remained in operation for almost four years later, until it was swept away and lost in a flood of April 1929. Next a low level bridge was constructed, but the water rose and drowned it that same year. Another punt was then established.
The site of the current Taemas Bridge was selected by the Public Works Department and is located about three kilometres upstream from the former bridge site. This led to a longer road route, but enabled a shorter bridge to be constructed in a location were flood levels were expected to be lower.
After several years of inaction, the Goodradigbee and Yass Councils organised a protest meeting, and the State Government asked Tulloch's Phoenix Ironworks Ltd in Sydney to order steel for the bridge. Steel members show rolling marks of Dorman Long & Co Ld Mbro, so were presumably imported from Middlesbrough, England. Monier Pipe and Reinforced Concrete Works constructed piers and installed the bridge. Once constructed, Gilroy and Robson Ltd gravelled the bridge approaches ready for opening. The bridge was opened in 1931 and cost ₤60,895.
Even after the new bridge was opened some locals still forded the river near the former bridge if they could, to save petrol from the extra distance required by road to reach the new bridge.
Facilities
There is a carpark at the southern end of the bridge, from which the Murrumbidgee River can be accessed.