May 18, 1940
A highway bridge built across the Manning River in the town of Taree in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) made its public debut. This steel truss bridge was officially opened by Alexander Mair, who served as premier of NSW from 1939 to 1941. The structure replaced a steam-driven ferry service that had been in operation on that section of the Manning River since 1902.
The bridge was eventually named after Lewis Ormsby Martin, who served as NSW’s secretary for public works and minister for local government at the time during which the structure was opened. The Martin Bridge carried the Pacific Highway until 1997, when that national highway was re-routed to another location in the area. The bridge has since instead been a crossing for Manning River Drive.
In 2010, the Martin Bridge was added to the NSW State Heritage Register. The total length of this bridge is 1,519 feet (463 meters).
Photo Credit: Mike Young (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
For more information on the Martin Bridge, please check out https://apps.environment.nsw.gov.au/dpcheritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4300300
Transportation History 