The old mandurah traffic bridge
When the Old Mandurah Traffic Bridge was recently demolished, we were thankful to be granted permission to salvage some of the vintage Jarrah structural timbers used to form the foundation of this historic landmark. This timber is now in limited supply in our Fremantle warehouse.
Structural Jarrah Logs
Old Mandurah Bridge Jarrah Sleeper Table by Fremantle Timber
Jarrah support logs - 7.5 M long, 450x450
124 years of history.
The story behind Mandurah's iconic traffic bridge.
The old Mandurah traffic bridge is a historic local landmark, originally built in 1894 as a traffic bridge across the estuary. There is a strong tradition of fishing under the bridge, which started when timber platforms were constructed in the 1890's, and remains to this day as one of the most renowned crabbing locations in Perth.
The area around Mandurah was occupied for many tens of thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers. The Bilyidar Bindjareb (River People), one of thirteen language groups in the south west of Western Australia who self identified as Nyungar people, centred around the rich Murray estuary region, which they called ‘Mandjar’.
The first bridge over the estuary at Mandurah was completed in 1894. It was a single lane timber bridge, 600 feet (180 metres) long with 30 spans each of 20 feet (6 metres). The 70 piles were cut from the jarrah forest in the Pinjarra area and all the work was done manually by men and horses in about six weeks.
By April 1951, the decision had been made to build a two-lane bridge of reinforced concrete piles with a timber deck. The Mandurah Traffic Bridge was re-opened by the Minister for Works, Mr Tonkin, on 17 April 1953. He unveiled a commemorative plaque and cut a blue ribbon stretching across the bridge in front of a crowd of about 1,500 people.
The Old Mandurah Traffic Bridge was recently demolished and re-built as the existing bridge was no longer suitable for the population growth of the area, and we were lucky enough to salvage some of the beautifully weathered timber support beams for our workshop.
How can we help?
Recycled Timber is readily available at our Fremantle Warehouse in Perth, in all shapes, sizes and forms - from Hardwood Slabs, Posts, Beams, Bush Poles, Gluts, Wharf Timber, Railway Sleepers, Stair Treads, Marri Furniture Perth, Recycled Flooring to Re-milled Decking and more!
This is the result of years of hard work to salvage and recycle hardwood timber with the least possible damage, reclaiming wood that was originally milled between 50 – 150 years ago which has been dried with age, rather than kiln-dried.
This early timber is vastly superior in quality, compared with recently milled timber, as the colour, grain and texture of the wood has come about naturally over time. The character and patina simply cannot be matched.
