Great North Road, Australia

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Rockface carving by convict workgang on the route of the Great North Rd

The Great North Road is a historic road that extends north from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was the first road to link Sydney with the fertile Hunter Valley.

Constructed with convict labour between 1825 and 1836, it extends for over 260 kilometres, traversing the rugged terrain that hindered early agricultural expansion.

The road was an engineering triumph, with some sections constructed to a notably high standard. Unfortunately, it was not an unqualified success in practical terms. Apart from the steep grades, there was a lack of water and horse feed along the route. For these reasons it quickly fell into disuse with the development of alternative means of getting to the Hunter Valley, such as steamships and newer roads.

Much of the road fell into total disuse while other parts were absorbed into the urban and rural road network.

1 The route
2 The Great North Road today
3 Preservation
4 Gallery
5 External links

[edit] The route

The Great North Road commences at Parramatta Road, at what is now the Sydney suburb of Five Dock. It passes through Ryde and Dural before reaching the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry, 100km to the north. It then climbs and winds through isolated and often rugged bushland in the Dharug National Park, continuing through Bucketty until forking at Wollombi. From there one branch continues to Singleton via Broke and the other goes to Cessnock, Maitland and on to Newcastle.

[edit] The Great North Road today

The Great North Road survives to this day, but different parts are preserved in very different ways. Much of it is under bitumen and concrete, either as suburban street or rural backroad, while some is preserved in national parks and protected from vehicular traffic.

Slight evidence of its past, such as bypassed bridgeworks or even convict rock carvings, survives within the Sydney metropolitan area; in contrast, large stretches remain in original condition north of the Hawkesbury River. The first few kilometres, from Five Dock (an inner Sydney suburb) to the Parramatta River (at Abbotsford), pass through a local shopping centre and residential area. The historic name is retained for this section, the only reason anyone would think twice about this unremarkable piece of suburban road.

[edit] Preservation

In 1990, the local communities of Bucketty and Wollombi established the 'Convict Trail Project', aiming to restore, maintain and promote the road as a museum of convict engineering. Original sections of the road which are on view have provided valuable insight into early road construction techniques in the colony of New South Wales, and how English road-building technology of the time was imported and adapted.

[edit] Gallery

The start of the historic Road, where it branches off from 'The Parramatta Road' (now Parramatta Rd, Five Dock), contrasts with the unaltered sections beyond Wiseman's Ferry	Rock carving created by a member of a convict work gang, probably around 1829. It is only a short distance from the beginning of the Great North Road at Parramatta Rd	The Thomas James Bridge, on the northern bank of the Hawkesbury River at Wiseman's Ferry, is the oldest bridge on the Australian mainland still to carry vehicular traffic	Devine's Hill, just past the Thomas James Bridge. At the foot of Devine's Hill, vehicular traffic joins a newer road, leaving the GNR to the walkers and cyclists.
This embankment is made of trimmed pieces of rock spoil from the blasting of the adjacent cutting. Unused spoil litters the area below	Gutter hewn from solid rock leads to culvert for box drain beneath road surface	Closer view of the gutter	Cutting. Convict workers would hammer a crowbar-like 'jumperbar' into the rock, fill the hole with gunpowder, plug the hole and then ignite it. Visible are metre-long 'half holes' that remained after the rock face was blown away
Close up of the 'half holes'