Grafton Bridge, New South Wales

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The Grafton Bridge over the Clarence River showing Bascule span lifted to let shipping through. (Postcard from about 1932; The "Southern Cross" aeroplane has been added to the photograph.)

This article is about Grafton Bridge, in Grafton, New South Wales. For the bridge in Auckland, New Zealand see "Grafton Bridge."

Grafton Bridge is a bascule bridge which spans the Clarence River in Grafton in New South Wales, Australia.

A bridge over the Clarence River in Grafton was first conceived in 1915. The original design called for a railway bridge with a footway, but in 1922 the design was changed to accommodate vehicular traffic as well. There is provision for a second track across the bridge but at this time it is being used as an easement for a water main. The Grafton Bridge was opened in 1932.^[1]

With the decline in shipping along the Clarence River, the opening span was sealed shut and it can no longer be opened.

[edit] Blind corner on approach side of bridge

Local legend has it that the roadway across the top of the bridge was originally to connect with Pound St. According to the tale a local councilor of the time owned a hotel On Fitzroy St and wouldn't support the bridge until it was amended to connect with Fitzroy street directing traffic past his establishment, hence the unique kink in the northern roadway ramp.

Regardless of the truth of the legend, a more practical explantion for the kinks either side of the bridge is that the roadway has to clear the railway line below it, necessitating the bends in the bridge. The bends themselves present something of a dangerous situation for wide vehicles attempting to cross the bridge, and for travellers unaccustomed to the nuisance, which locals navigate at some speed, since the high iron sides of the narrow bridge obscur vision and threaten to prevent traffic flow if encountered by the vehicle. At least some reassurance could once have been taken from the solid appearance, but in later days, this rickety-looking rivetted, rusting hulk rising to fill the view through the windshield adds no confidence.

The NSW Government commissioned a study into an additional crossing in 2002^[1], but as of 2006, plans to build another bridge have stalled.