Chapman River Road Bridge heritage listed despite council objection

The Chapman River Road Bridge was added to the State heritage register on Monday despite the objections of the local council. The bridge was built using convict labour in 1864 to transport supplies, equipment and convict labourers to mining operations north. It remains one of the oldest surviving stone road bridges in WA, with the original masonry still at the core of the structure. “The Chapman River Road Bridge demonstrates the economic development of the region that was possible with convict labour and the expertise of the Royal Engineers, and formed part of the pathway between Champion Bay and the mineral field around Northampton,” Heritage Minister David Templeman said. The bridge remains a rare example of the colonial era blade pier construction technique. However, the stonework has been covered by a layer of concrete, obscuring any visual cues of the original construction. This led the City of Greater Geraldton council to vote nine to four opposing the heritage listing. Mayor Shane Van Styn spoke to the Geraldton Guardian after the vote, questioning the historical significance of the bridge as it stands today. “The idea that this bridge is somehow reflective of historical elements is a bit lost on me,” he said. “One needs to only drive over it to see a bitumen road and steel buttresses, and the stones that were originally built by convicts are somewhere inside the concrete casing that has been placed around them to hold them.” The heritage listing means all repairs must first go through the State Heritage Council, preventing the removal of the stone piers. Mr Van Styn said this would cause serious issues if the bridge became too damaged to repair, as a second bridge would need to be built alongside it. “Making a second bridge would involve significant clearing of the Chapman River reserve and duplicating the amount of interference with native flora and fauna, and a partial destruction of what is a very small amount of estuarine environment left,” he said.