News
| 08 January 2016

Historic Adelaide bridge wins prestigious national award

Adelaide’s Sir William Goodman Bridge has been chosen to receive the Colin Crisp Award, Engineering Heritage Australia’s premier award for engineering heritage projects. Presented in December 2015, the award is hosted biennially for a project which demonstrates excellence in the conservation of an engineering work of heritage significance.

The winning project, the Sir William Goodman Bridge was the former tramway bridge across the Torrens at Hindmarsh. Completed in 1908, it was the first reinforced concrete girder bridge in the metropolitan area. Following the closure of the electric tram network in the 1950s, it was used for vehicle traffic and then restricted to pedestrian and cycle use. A few years ago, there were concerns about the bridge’s condition and it was closed to even these light uses.

Now, following its highly successful restoration, repair and upgrade, the bridge has been reopened for the community’s use. The bridge was awarded an Engineering Heritage Marker in 2014 and an interpretation panel at the site briefly outlines the structure’s history.

The Award is named in honour of Adelaide-born Colin, a Sydney-based consulting engineer, who died in 1991. Colin had a particular interest in the conservation of heritage structures and was made Honorary Consulting Engineer to the National Trust of NSW in 1968. This year’s Award was presented by Colin’s widow, Mrs Louise Crisp, on Tuesday 8 December 2015 during the national Engineering Heritage Conference held in Newcastle. J Woodside Consulting Pty Ltd was the project manager and the Colin Crisp Award was accepted by principal John Woodside.

A few days later, the project also received the Ian MacDonald Award for “Best in Urban Category” in South Australia from the Australian Civic Trust. The citation noted the innovative engineering in both the original design by John Monash and the reconstruction which used materials such as carbon fibre reinforcement and special coatings.

These two awards crown a string of local and national recognition for the bridge. It was also short-listed for an international heritage award by the UK Institution of Structural Engineers.

Engineering Heritage SA will host a site visit to the Sir William Goodman Bridge in February 2016: details will be provided in an Engineers Australia Event Alert. Whatever your interest – be it Adelaide’s transport history, reinforced concrete structures, or a successful heritage engineering conservation project – this will be a unique opportunity to hear about the project and see the end result for yourself.

Photo left - right: John Woodside, Owen Peake (Engineering Heritage Australia), Helen Link (General Manager Engineers Australia Newcastle Division), Mrs Louise Crisp
Photo Credit: John Woodside