Gundagai’s Prince Alfred Bridge in 1977. The viaduct provided safe passage to thousands of vehicles travelling between Melbourne and Sydney before Sheahan Bridge was built as part of the new Hume Highway. Local traffic and pedestrians continued to use Prince Alfred viaduct until it was permanently closed in 1984. Photo: Supplied.
Before the Hume Highway bypassed Gundagai, every journey between Sydney and Melbourne crossed the Prince Alfred Bridge.
Stretching across the Murrumbidgee floodplain on iron trusses and nearly a kilometre of timber viaduct, the bridge carried more than a century of travellers, stock and freight and became one of the great engineering achievements of colonial NSW.
But after decades of deterioration and years of debate over its future, the ageing structure was dismantled in late 2021 after it was deemed a public safety risk.
For the Gundagai community, there was some consolation in knowing that hundreds of cubic metres of timber had been salvaged, with hopes they would one day help preserve the story of one of the nation’s most recognisable bridges.
Following the bridge’s demolition, the NSW Government commissioned a heritage consultant and invited the community to help decide how the structure should be remembered.
About 140 ideas were submitted, ranging from viewing platforms and boardwalks to sculptures, park furniture and educational displays.
School students contributed suggestions and plans were floated for interactive features that would allow visitors to access videos and stories about the bridge.
But according to a report to Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC), details of any assessment or recommendations arising from those ideas were never received.
Some work has been completed near O I Bell Drive, where remnants of the original piers remain, a timber trestle was rebuilt and sections of the old bridge were incorporated into seating and interpretive displays.
Some of the timber also found a new life in Liv’s Place Inclusive Playground in Cootamundra, a move that later became a source of frustration for some Gundagai councillors, who believed the community had been promised first opportunity to put it to use.
But four years on, hundreds of cubic metres of the old bridge are still sitting in piles at the Gundagai waste facility.
An assessment ordered by council in February 2025, presented at the May 2026 ordinary meeting of CGRC found only 30 per cent of the timber remained in good condition, with years of exposure to the weather and storage directly on the ground accelerating its decline.
The worst of the damage was found in ‘Group One’, the most weathered of the three stockpiles.
Even so, council officers estimated the timber could still be worth about $455,000 and proposed putting the pile to market through an expression of interest process.
Staff argued the sale would free up space at the waste facility and generate the income needed to sort and process the remaining timber, work requiring heavy machinery and resources not currently available in operational budgets.
They also noted the timber was stored within an operating transfer station, making unrestricted public access difficult and raising safety concerns.
But Gundagai councillors had other ideas.
During debate, they spoke passionately about commitments made to the community when the bridge came down and frustration that plans discussed years ago appeared to have stalled.
Mayor Abb McAlister said from day one the council had promised the local community they would be given the first opportunity to have the timber.
“So, I’m totally against this going out to open tender,” he said.
Councillor Logan Collins told the meeting that he understood how important the bridge timber was to the Gundagai community.
“The government has always said, the key word being said, to the people of Gundagai the timber will be for them, that they will build a memorial and they’ll work with the community to provide that historic bridge a proper resting place, rather than what they did.
“They did not consult with us, they just knocked down that bridge, and it was gone,” he said.
Instead of proceeding with an immediate sale, councillors opted to hit pause.
An amendment moved by the mayor and seconded by councillor Logan Collins established a working party comprising the three Gundagai councillors and relevant staff to consider the timber’s future and report back to council.
Councillors also resolved that proceeds from any future sales be placed into a restricted reserve fund for projects and initiatives benefiting the Gundagai community.
For Cr McAlister, the issue is about keeping faith with the people who believed the bridge’s story would continue after the structure itself was gone.
“It was always there to give the community first opportunity to use that timber,” he said.
“Certainly nothing’s occurred yet.
“We just want to sit down before we make any decision on any of it.”
The working party will comprise the mayor and fellow Gundagai councillors Penny Nicholson and David Graham.
Original Article published by Edwina Mason on About Regional.
