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MONIER ROAD BRIDGEMONASH BRIDGE

Other Name MONASH BRIDGE Location Brung Brungle Road Old Glenelg Highway WANNON, Southern Grampians Shire File Number 262 Level Stage 2 study complete

[1/1] 23177 Monier Bridge Wannon

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Monier Bridge over the Wannon River at the township of Wannon, formerly Redruth, is the fourth bridge to span the river. The township developed around the crossing and in association with the nearby Wannon Falls. The bridge was located in the commercial centre of the township, at a time when the former route of the Glenelg Highway was the main street of Wannon. The bridge was critical for access to the Western District beyond Hamilton. The first bridge, built of timber, was replaced by two subsequent bridges. The present structure was built in 1917, to the design of a Country Roads Board engineer. The contractor was the Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company. The bridge represented the CRB's new policy of building in permanent materials. Although a late use of the Monier system, it incorporates technical advances and is also of significance for its use and adaptation of the bluestone piers which necessitated larger than usual spans. The Monier Bridge is substantially intact and in good condition. It has since been superseded by a modern bridge on the realignment of the Glenelg Highway.

How is it significant?
The Monier Bridge on Brung Brungle Road over the Wannon River at Wannon is of historical and architectural significance to the township of Wannon and the Shire of Southern Grampians.

Why is it significant?
The Monier Bridge on Brung Brungle Road over the Wannon River at Wannon is of historical significance as a landmark at the centre of the former main street of the township of Wannon, established at the river crossing in the 1860s. It has additional historical significance for its sequence of development, representing the improvement of road transport and the growing importance of the communications corridor west of Hamilton towards the South Australian border. It is one of the first bridges designed by the then new Country Roads Board.

The bridge is of architectural significance as a late example of the use of the Monier system of reinforced concrete construction, which demonstrates technical improvements to the system. It also meets the challenge posed by the long spans between the existing bluestone piers. The bridge is architecturally significant as the work of the important engineering firm, Reinforced Concrete and Monier Pipe Construction Company Ltd., which was led by the eminent engineer and general, Sir John Monash, who pioneered the use of the Monier system in Australia.