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Renovated High Level Bridge, 1909-1939/1947
Fremantle has had five road bridges crossing the Swan River, two of which remain. A new one is now (2020-1) planned.
North Fremantle Bridge aka High Level Bridge, 1866-1909
Low Level Bridge, 1898-1909
Renovated High Level Bridge, 1909-1939/1947
Fremantle Traffic Bridge, 1939-
Stirling Bridge, 1974-
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This is possibly the best photo available of the RHLB, showing the Swan Wool Scour works in the right background.
The Renovated High Level Bridge was a renovation of the original 1866 bridge so extensive that it is considered to be a third bridge. It was opened 18 June 1909 and the Low Level Bridge was closed and then demolished. By the 1930s the RHLB was found to have deteriorated to a point where it was necessary to replace it. It was eventually demolished in 1947.
The photo above shows the Renovated High Level Bridge with two traffic lanes and the tramway on the eastern side, and the Low Level Bridge in the process of demolition.
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The status of the bridge in 1935, according to Neil Smithson, in a photo posted to Facebook.
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Library:
A horse drawn army ambulance leaving the traffic bridge at the southern end. Pearse's Tannery and Boot factory in Swan Street, North Fremantle can be seen in the background. Fremantle Library photo #1731, c. 1901.
The bridge in the photo is the Renovated High Level Bridge.
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The photo above is of the Renovated Bridge seen from the upstream side, avec tram, c. 1908. This is no. 352 from the Fremantle Library Local History Collection.
Library:
Tram coming over North Fremantle traffic bridge. In 1908 when Fremantle and North Fremantle wished to extend the tramway system to North Fremantle, the old humpbacked bridge (built 1866) was renovated, ie the hump was removed and the bridge widened. Apart from being redecked in 1915, the bridge continued in service until December 1939, when the present bridge was opened. The building at the end of the bridge is the Swan Hotel. This was rebuilt in 1922.
The present Fremantle Traffic Bridge, opened 15 December 1939. The 1940s photo shows the RHLB still in position on the right. The newer wooden bridge was intended to be used for a limited time. It is still in use in 2021.
The status of the bridges in 1946, according to Neil Smithson, in a photo posted to Facebook.
Aerial photo from 1947 showing the first rail bridge on the left, the 1939 traffic bridge in the middle, and the remains of the not-yet-demolished RHLB. The red-ringed building is a PWD depot - on what is now Beach Street Reserve, roughly where The Kiosk now stands.
References and Links
Fowler, Audrey 1974, Notes on the oldest traffic bridge in Fremantle, the newsletter of the Fremantle Society, March.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 27 June, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/bridges/bridge1909.html (it was last updated on 11 December, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.