Bridge 4536A, over Gooralong Brook, Jarrahdale Rd, Jarrahdale

Values

• The place demonstrates the widespread use of timber as a structural material in early twentieth century bridge building;
• The place is associated with the growth of regional infrastructure in the early twentieth century.

Physical Description

Bridge 4536A over Gooralong Brook, Jarrahdale Road is a single lane timber and steel road bridge spanning Gooralong Brook, and is approximately 2 km east of the town of Jarrahdale. The bridge is approximately 3.6 m long, 9.9 m wide and sits approximately 1 m above the creek bed at its highest point.
The bridge is essentially a timber culvert, a single span constructed along a northeast-southwest axis. The bridge abutments consist of timber log abutment walls and timber log wing walls, further supported by metal strips driven into the ground. The foundations around the sides of the wing walls consist of random rubble masonry held together with concrete.

History

Noongar people living in the southwest of the continent during the pre- and early contact period can broadly be described as comprising small family groups moving through the landscape in response to seasonal change, utilising a toolkit of wooden and flaked stone tools and grinding stones, notably of quartz, dolerite and chert. The artistic culture of the Noongar people was expressed in painted and engraved art in a wide variety of forms, relating to a complex spiritual worldview that incorporated a connection to the natural world, and the remembrance or ongoing influence of ancestral and spiritual figures.
In the region around Wandering, the Noongar groups were known as the Binjareb (also recorded as Pinjarup). Groups of families who may have totalled 100 people lived in the region and moved between the coast and forests. These groups utilised the natural resources of the area, coming together annually to take advantage of the cyclical abundance of various food sources. In the case of the Binjareb, the fish traps at Balgarrup were a series of communal structures that provided for such events. The families living in the jarrah forests near the Serpentine River were additionally known as the Cooralong.

Condition

Bridge in poor condition and requires replacement.

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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