Back to search results » Back to search page »   Print 

Gardiners Creek Bridge

Location

Glenferrie Road KOOYONG, STONNINGTON CITY

Level

Included in Heritage Overlay

Statement of Significance

Relevant themes from the City of Stonnington Environmental History are indicated by TEH.

What is Significant?
Gardiners Creek Bridge at Glenferrie Road, Kooyong is road bridge constructed in two stages. The eastern half of the bridge is a triple-arched red-brick structure dating from 1891. The western half of the bridge is a reinforced concrete girder structure with an arched spandrel wall. It was designed and built in 1912 by John (later Sir) Monash's Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company.

Elements that contribute to the significance of the place include (but are not limited to):
- The form, materials and detailing of the bridge surviving from the 1891 and 1912 phases of construction.
- The bridge's high level of intactness to its 1912 state (including unpainted brickwork)
- Unimpeded views to sides of the bridge and the parapet walls at road level.
- The general absence of modern signage on the bridge and its immediate environs.

Modern fabric, including traffic lights, concrete drains and kerbs and road paving, does not contribute to the significance of the bridge.

How is it significant?
Gardiners Creek Bridge is historically, architecturally and technologically significant at a local level to the City of Stonnington.

Why is it significant?
Gardiners Creek Bridge is of historical significance as an early crossing point in to the municipality (TEH 4.2.4 Bridging Gardiners Creek) and for its associations with the expansion of the electrical tram network through Prahran and Malvern, having been widened specifically to allow for the laying of tramlines (Criterion A, TEH 4.5.2 Prahran-Malvern Tramways Trust). Gardiner's Creek Bridge is of additional historical significance for its association with Sir John Monash (Criterion H).

Gardiner's Creek Bridge is architecturally significant as a substantially intact nineteenth century bridge with a well proportioned arched spans and good quality brickwork (Criterion D). The arched spandrel wall of the 1912 addition is a considered design response to the arched format of the original bridge (Criterion E). The appearance of the 1912 bridge addition is further enhanced by its combination of smooth and textured concrete finishes and red-brick parapet wall.

The bridge is technologically significant for its ability to illustrate advances in bridge building methods, being a rare example in which nineteenth century arched brick construction can be found alongside a twentieth century concrete girder structure (Criterion F).

Group

Transport - Road

Category

Road Bridge