Fig Tree Bridge is a girder bridge

Girder bridge

A girder bridge, in general, is a bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers. In turn, a bridge deck is built on top of the girders in order to carry traffic. There are several different subtypes of girder bridges:...

 that spans the Lane Cove River

Lane Cove River

The Lane Cove River is a tributary of the Parramatta River, Sydney, Australia. Its lower reaches form an arm of Sydney Harbour.-Description:...

, west of the CBD

Sydney central business district

The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...

 in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is immediately to the north of Tarban Creek Bridge

Tarban Creek Bridge

Tarban Creek Bridge is an arch bridge that spans Tarban Creek, west of central Sydney, Australia. It is located between Gladesville Bridge and Fig Tree Bridge, being immediately to the north of Gladesville Bridge...

 and the more well-known Gladesville Bridge

Gladesville Bridge

Gladesville Bridge is an arch bridge near Gladesville that spans the Parramatta River, west of central Sydney, Australia. It links the suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne. It is a few kilometres upstream of the more famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and is part of Victoria Road...

. The bridge carries Burns Bay Road and a footpath and connects the suburb of Hunters Hill

Hunters Hill, New South Wales

Hunters Hill is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Hunter's Hill.Hunters Hill is situated on a...

 to Linley Point

Linley Point, New South Wales

Linley Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Linley Point is located 10 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Lane Cove....

.

This bridge replaces an iron truss bridge

Truss bridge

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

 originally built on this site in 1885 in a period which also saw the construction of the original Gladesville and Iron Cove

Iron Cove Bridge, New South Wales

Iron Cove Bridge is a heritage listed bridge linking the suburbs of Drummoyne to Rozelle in New South Wales, Australia.-Original:The original bridge was constructed of wrought iron lattice girders and opened in 1882 after four years of construction...

 bridges. The earlier Fig Tree Bridge was about 50 metres (160 ft) to the west. The southern abutment

Abutment

An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...

 still exists, upon which there is a viewing platform accessible from the end of Joubert Street. The wheel that once operated the opening span stands in memorial.

The current Fig Tree Bridge, which opened in September, 1963, was built in conjunction with the Tarban Creek and Gladesville Bridges as part of the planned North Western Expressway

North Western Expressway

The North Western Expressway was a planned freeway route in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, intended to link the Sydney CBD to its north-western suburbs, and ultimately the F3 Freeway to Newcastle....

 linking the city with the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway

Sydney-Newcastle Freeway

The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway is a stretch of motorway linking Sydney to the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter regions of New South Wales. It is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane, carrying the route designation....

. The expressway was cancelled, but the freeway grade road from the eastern end of the Gladesville Bridge, over Tarban Creek and ending at the northern end of Fig Tree Bridge hints at what was planned. The bridge's concrete piers were designed so that when the expressway became a reality, two extra lanes either side of the bridge could be clipped on, increasing the bridge's capacity.

Although never realising its true calling, Fig Tree Bridge, along with its neighbours, is still important as the next crossing upstream from the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic...

, and as such is an alternative route in and out of the City from the lower and upper north shore suburbs via Burns Bay Road. Depending upon the time of day, it can also be a quicker route into the City, and is not tolled - unlike the Sydney Harbour Bridge route.

In 2006, Fig Tree Bridge formed part of the Medibank Private Seven Bridges Walk, a free community event meant to promote walking as a way of staying fit and active, and consisted of a walk circuit that crossed seven of Sydney's bridges, including the Sydney Harbour, Anzac

ANZAC Bridge

The ANZAC Bridge or Anzac Bridge , replacing the earlier Glebe Island Bridge, is a large cable-stayed bridge spanning Johnstons Bay between Pyrmont and Glebe Island in proximity to the central business district of Sydney, Australia...

and Gladesville Bridges.

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