Bridge 365, Harper Brook, Northam-Toodyay Road, Dumbarton

Values

• The place is representative of the type of timber bridges constructed in the Wheatbelt during the 1940s.
• The place may represent the use of sustenance labour for bridge construction in the Wheatbelt in the 1940s
• The place may represent the work of local governments in road bridge construction in the Wheatbelt.

Physical Description

Bridge 365, Harper Brook, Northam-Toodyay Road, Dumbarton comprises a road bridge with a timber superstructure on concrete abutments. The bridge measures 7 metres in length, and approximately 9 metres in overall width. The bridge was constructed in 1940. White-painted timber and iron guard rails line both sides.

History

Dumbarton is situated in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately 3 kilometres east of the Town of Toodyay. The Wheatbelt region of Western Australia wraps around the north and east side of the metropolitan area, includes the Avon Valley, and extends from Jurien Bay in the northwest, Lake King in the southeast, and the Shire of Yilgarn in the east. The area is predominantly mixed farming, namely wheat and sheep.
Agricultural settlement of the region began in the Avon Valley in 1831 and, although a route from Perth to Albany was surveyed in 1830 it remained a sand track in the 1840s. Toodyay (then Newcastle) was occupied by the British for agricultural purposes in 1836, albeit several kilometres downstream from the current location. Development was slow until, in 1850, the first shipload of convicts arrived in the Colony providing the needed labour force to undertake public works. In 1851 a convict depot was established at Toodyay, at the site where the town stands today, with the town relocating there in 1859. In 1884/5 the railway from Guildford to York was completed, and the line to Toodyay in 1888. By the 1880s the Moore and Avon River valleys comprised largely established wheat and sheep farmers. However, the remainder of the Wheatbelt saw mainly seasonal use with scattered isolated homesteads the norm.
With the gold boom in the 1890s the Toodyay area prospered being near the route to the eastern goldfields and hence a source of provisions for those enroute to the goldfields. Agriculture diversified and in 1910 the name of the town was changed to Toodyay. Despite many men from the area leaving to join up in WWI the area continued to be successful in agricultural production.
Post-WWI agricultural production continued to increase albeit suffering some setbacks during the Depression as seen elsewhere. Sustenance work is likely to have been undertaken in the area though which projects were specifically part of this program are not known at this time. Many of the smaller settlements in the area did not survive the Depression and in 1934 a major flood hit Toodyay with many roads and rail bridges impacted.
According to the data held by Main Roads (Wheatbelt) Bridge 365, Harper Brook, Northam-Toodyay Road, Dumbarton was constructed in 1940.
Following WWII the region saw increased economic growth and stability and both the State and local governments invested in infrastructure. Toodyay was linked to the state electricity grid and scheme water during this period. The Road Board became the Shire of Toodyay in 1961.
Toodyay did not reap a direct benefit from the mining boom of the 1960s and 1970s but in the 1960s tourism had begun to emerge as a subsidiary industry for the region. In the 1960s the railway was upgraded to standard gauge and the new Avon Valley line was opened and a new station constructed at Toodyay. The 1970s saw a decline in the rural economy but small ‘hobby farms’ became popular and tourism was further promoted to supplement the local economy.

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