PUBLIC WORKS— ROADS AND BRIDGES. 291 



swing-span. The total cost of these two bridges complete was 

 £110,000. The Lane Cove Bridge, also near Sydney, was opened in 

 1885, consists of five 60-feet spans, with a swing-span pivoted on one 

 abutment and having one GO-fect clear opening. The cost of this 

 bridge and approaches was £42,700. The bridge over the Slioal haven 

 River at Nowra, the centre of the Shoalhaven district, a veiy fine iron 

 structui^e, with eight truss spans, cost about £oO,000, and was opened 

 about 14 years ago. At Manilla, an important district in the north- 

 west part of the Colony, an iron lattice girder bridge of five spans has 

 been erected over the Namoi River, the cost being £34,485. Bridges 

 of this type, but smaller, have also been constructed over the same 

 river at Gunnedah, at Yellow I^ank, and at Biugera. At Taemas, an 

 important crossing of the Murrumbidgee River near Yass, a bridge of 

 the continuous girder type, 4G2 feet long, with cast-iron cylinders and 

 masonry abutments, was opened for traffic in 1888. At Buckley's 

 Crossing of the Snowy River, in the Monaro district, there is also 

 another bridge of this class. At Cowra, a handsome bridge has been 

 constructed over the Lachlan River at a cost of o£2G,540; the design 

 being composite steel and timber trusses on cylinder piers, and the 

 total hmgth 1,040 feet. 



Bridges have been constructed over the Murray and Darling Rivers 

 at various points, and to proyide for the river ti'affic a design has been 

 adopted which, while it permits of navigation at all states of the river, 

 does not offer any obstruction in flood time as would be the case with 

 bridges having a swing-span. The design which has been used is a 

 steel lift bridge placed 5 feet clear of the maximum flood. Bridges of 

 this kind have been erected at Wentworth (an illustration of which 

 accompanies this article), and at Brewarrina, Buurke, Wilcannia, 

 Tocumwal, and Mulwala. 



The whole of these works are carried out and maintained by the 

 Public Works Department direct, which has a most efficient staff of 

 engineers stationed at various parts of the country who are cou- 

 troUed and directed from the administrative office in Sydney. The 

 mileage of roads at present, directly or indirectly, under the charge 

 of this Department, that is exclusive of the roads in towns under 

 municipal control, is oG,070, of which 11,979 miles are simply bush 

 tracks, and 24,091 miles are cleared, formed, or metalled roads. 

 There are 3,G59 bridges in the Colony having a total length of over 

 50 miles, and 27,G03 culverts on small bridges with a total length of 

 nearly 79 miles. For ferry purposes in connection with roads the 

 Government maintains 98 punts and 2 steam launches, 1 horse boat, 

 and 187 other boats. Most of the northern rivers are very wide, for 

 instance at Grafton, on the Clarence, where there is -a steam ferry 

 service ; the distance across is 32 chains, or nearly half-a-mile. 



Although the maintenance of communication by means of roads and 

 bridges is no doubt of first importance to a large part of the Colony, 

 the keeping open of the navigation of the rivers is of equal import- 

 ance to those districts where the settlers depend upon the waterways 

 rather than upon roads. As is well known, the interior of Australui, 

 considering the extent of the territory, is singularly deficient in pei»- 

 manently navigable rivers. There are, however, several streams flowing 

 eastward into the Pacific Ocean at various intervals along the coast line, 



