Historical information

Bridge construction Eltham-Diamond Creek road over the Diamond Creek (Wattletree Road), Eltham, September 1959

After some delay in receiving funds, work started on the bridge approaches in early September 1959. Traffic was still using the old bridge upstream. On Sunday, 20 September 1959, heavy flooding occurred in the stream and at 3:53 pm the old bridge was washed out. This photo was taken the day after.

To the left is the Diamond Creek side abutment for the new Wattletree Road bridge under construction. Where the trucks are parked is near the present-day intersection with Progress Road. At the time Progress Road did not exist and was merely a road reserve on the map.

The bridge was originally built as a replacement for an older private bridge built by a man named Foley around 1880. In 1911 Heidelberg and Eltham agreed to share the costs to build a new bridge. Construction began in June 1915 and it was officially opened by Cr. Taylor on Cup Day, November 1915.

Significance

Record of various Shire of Eltham infrastructure works undertaken during the period of 1952-1962 involving bridge and road reconstruction projects, sometimes with Eltham Shire Council Project Reference numbers quoted. It was during this period that a number of significant improvements were made to roads and new bridges constructed within the shire that remain in place as of present day (2022). In many situations, the photos provide a tangible visible record of infrastructure that existed throughout the early days of the Shire. The album was put together by or under the direction of the Shire Engineer, J.A. McDonald.

Physical description

Medium format 120/Kodak 620 6x6 cm black and white negative (1 of 11) contained with Kodak processing envelope with various inscriptions and markings

Originally inserted loose with other processing envelopes of negatives and prints within a binder of 78 foolscap pages containing a sequence of photos, adhered via glue or sticky tape, with typed or handwritten headings and captions in pencil, contained in a green foolscap binder with spring clasp spine for retaining loose pages.