page_title: Morpeth Bridge
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Morpeth Bridge / Description
caption_attribution_description: Morpeth Bridge underside
context_page_description: Morpeth Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge over the Hunter River at Morpeth, City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Percy Allan and built from 1896 to 1898 by Samuel McGill. It is also known as Morpeth Bridge over the Hunter River. The property is owned by Roads and Maritime Services.
  Opened on 15 June 1898, the Morpeth Bridge is a timber trestle bridge employing Allan trusses. It has two central iron cylinder span supports fabricated by Mort's Dock. It is managed by the Roads and Maritime Services. The bridge was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 June 2000.
context_section_description: The bridge has three 33.6-metre (110 ft) timber Allan truss spans, flanked by timber beam spans supporting concrete decking units. The roadway width is 5.5 metres (18 ft) and the main spans are supported on twin iron cylinder piers. The approaches have timber piers.
  Some of the features of the modified Howe truss developed by Allan are the use of paired timber elements throughout, which allowed any component to be replaced while the bridge remained in service, without the need to temporarily prop the trusses from below. The truss consists of timber top and bottom chords, timber compression diagonals and tension rods as verticals; the tension rods could be used to adjust the geometry and counteract shrinkage. Furthermore, cast-iron shoes at all joints ensured proper truss action and a good transfer of member forces at the joints.
  Allan's design was lighter and more economical than the McDonald truss it replaced. They were also designed to be more accessible for painting and repair, and to use shorter lengths of timber which were much easier to obtain and to manoeuvre during construction.
  Flood evacuation stairs are located on the northern approach adjacent to Pier 9.
  Evidence of former Morpeth branch railway line may be present in the vicinity of span 1 on the Morpeth town side.
caption: Underside of the bridge, 2009
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