Troubled bridge over Bendigo Creek closing to vehicles

THE historic Booth Street Bridge, which crosses the Bendigo Creek in Golden Square and is one of six remaining Monier reinforced concrete arch bridges constructed locally between 1900 and 1902, will close permanently to vehicle traffic this month.

The bridge is considered significant as it demonstrates an important stage in the development of reinforced concrete technology and early twentieth century engineering.

In 2008 the load limit on the structure was reduced to five tonnes in an attempt to slow its deterioration.

In 2020 a further engineering investigation and load testing was embarked upon, which found that the bridge’s capacity had continued to reduce since 2008.

City of Greater Bendigo presentation and assets director Brian Westley said the decision to close the bridge had been made due to costly repairs that would be needed to be undertaken for it to stay open.

“The City is responsible for maintaining over 300 bridges and only has limited funds to undertake renewal projects which need to be prioritised,” he said.

“Repairing the bridge was considered under the City’s bridge renewal program. However, it was not deemed to be a high priority when compared to the other bridge renewal projects that are needed.

“Traffic counts have shown that the Booth Street Bridge carries a volume of approximately 430 vehicles per day and the surrounding road network is considered adequate to absorb this traffic.”

Mr Westley said drivers using Laurel/Wade Street as an alternative route would only be required to travel an extra 250 metres.