Murray Bridge Round House: Ron takes in some of the history of this icon of the Murraylands region of South Australia
The bridge at Murray Bridge is a major landmark on the mighty river Murray - in facts it's the first bridge to span Australia's longest river. And the original hexagonal-shaped building which overlooks both the road and rail bridges at this major regional centre is also the home of many firsts. The Round House was built soon after the original rail bridge which opened for traffic in 1879. But both projects were the butt of jokes, political intrigue and scandal.
We all despair at the politics of major government projects. Where should they be put? How much should they cost? They're the sorts of questions that bedevil any major proposal, but let me tell you the South Australian icon of Murray Bridge is proof that the more things change, the more they remain the same.
The bridge was brought over from England to Dry Creek in kit form where it stayed for five years while the pollies argued over where the first bridge across the Murray should be built. Argument raged over whether it should be here or further downstream at Wellington. And while that battle royal continued some suggested the five major spans imported from England should be used to create five Adelaide bridges, rather than rusting at Dry Creek.
Peter Harden, Murray Bridge Roundhouse: "They had five main sections, five spans and they said let's use it across the Torrens, let's have two bridges across the Torrens, and a bridge across Brownhill Creek. And the politicians were thinking yes it shouldn't be sitting at Dry Creek - we should use it."
But finally after much to-ing and fro-ing the colony's civic fathers settled on Murray Bridge and as construction began - so did the name-calling.
Peter Harden: "They said it was a great white elephant and was never going to get used. In fact when it was finished there was no road to it and no road from it. So it did appear that it was a bridge to nowhere."
And like all major controversial public projects there were cost overruns. It was meant to be built for a grand total of ?13,000. By the time it was finished it cost ten times that much. And then there were major hitches. When the workers hit hard bedrock, the first engineer Frank Rees George called for a new fang dangled machine called a jackhammer to be brought out from the Mother Country. Little did he realise that not only would it arrive but so too another lead engineer to operate it.
Peter Harden: "In came Henry Parker who was a qualified engineer. So you had two engineers building one bridge so the government of the day said we can't have two engineers."
So Parker takes over the troubled project and during a lull in construction - as the stone masons wait to build the eastern stone abutment, he sets his men to work on the Round House.
Peter Harden: "Initially it was considered a house for him to live in and it came to be known in a way as 'Parker's Folly' - spending too much time and money on a house for himself and not enough on the approaches to the bridge. So this becomes a magnet for criticism as well - it was adding to the cost but probably keeping his men occupied. It's a veritable 'mansion in the wilderness'.
Eventually, after six long years Murray Bridge was finished and it proves the critics wrong by becoming the main route to Melbourne for a century until the Swanport Bridge and the Southeastern Freeway are completed in 1979. And the Round House - well it too become a key part of life in Murray Bridge.
Peter Harden: "It was the first Post Office, first government school, first church and also the first meeting place of the local Council."
When looking up from the river, the early paddleboat skippers thought it was round - hence the name The Round House. And it overlooks a bridge with an incredible history and a few ripping yarns and myths. Like the story of one unlucky worker, who for many years, was thought to have been entombed in one of the pylons.
In fact a worker was trapped and died in one of the pylons but his body was later exhumed and buried at Callington. It's just one of many stories associated with the Bridge and its Round House. For tours contact Peter Harden on 8531 2005. The Murray Pincess also calls in for tours each Saturday morning. For details contact 8569 2511. If you have any further questions please email then to info@postcards-sa.com.au
Murray Bridge Roundhouse
Adjacent to bridge
Contact Peter Harden on 8531 2005Murray Princess Tours
Contact 8569 2511Published 25th July 2010
