History

Bells Line of Road was marked in 1823 by Archibald Bell who, with the help of Aboriginal gudies, found an alternative to Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworths road (the Great Western Highway) across the Blue Mountains. However, Bells Line of Road was rarely used in comparison to the Great Western Highway which also had the railway line parallel it from the 1860s onwards.

Around the turn of the century, interest in the Bells Line route increased and the Department of Public Works undertook some limited construction to enable traffic to use the route from Richmond to Lithgow. Bells Line of Road was officially opened in September 1905, in conjunction with the opening of the current Richmond Bridge over the Hawkesbury River (more on that below).

Despite being declared part of Main Road No. 184 (North Parramatta-Windsor-Richmond-Bell-Mt Victoria) on 22 May 1928, the route gradually feel into disrepair. Its steep grades, winding nature and the sealing of the Great Western Highway across the Blue Mountains during the Depresssion meant it never became the preferred route.

With the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, Bells Line of Road attracted new interest as an important alternative route for evacuating Sydney should the Great Western Highway be severed by enemy attack.In 1942 the Australian Government began preparing for the possibility of war on our own shores and Bells Line of Road was one of a number of important defence routes selected for upgrading, along with the Putty Road (Windsor-Singleton).

In October 1939 the Department of Main Roads began a program of reconstruction on the road at Mount Victoria (note that the original Bells Line of Road turned south at Bell to meet the Great Western Highway at Mt Victoria) and continued it until, by April 1941, earthworks had been completed to a point 11 miles north of Mt Victoria. Work was then halted due to the war efforts.

In February 1942 an inspection was made to assess what work was needed to make the road trafficable immediately. The military authorities desired that the unconctructed sections of the road be immediately improved, including provision for collecting and passing stations on the sections that were only wide enough for one-way traffic. There were two sections that would have been serious bottlenecks in an emergency - from Kurrajong Village to Cut Rock (4.5mi with grades of up to 13% and a poor alignment) - and secondly the east and west sides of Mount Tomah. Work on constructing the road progrssed as far as 25 miles east of Bell by March 1942 before serious depletion of the personnel for military service commenced. On September 1942 work was halted indefinitely as the war operations moved north and it appeared the NSW coast was no longer under threat.

In December 1945, following the end of the war, work was recommenced by the Department of Main Roads and gradually gained momentum. Following a serious investigation to find a suitable route, in November 1946 a large cutting on the west side of Mount Tomah was commenced. From here the Department of Main Roads tells the story:

"The determination of route on this section needed courage when one viewed the huge ravine to be filled, and the formidable cliffs which had to be cut down the mountain to provide access between Mt Tomah and Mt Bell. Located under this cliff was the existing road, which had to be kept open to traffic, and which was in the path of most of the debris to be brought down from the excavations above.
In February and March 1947, exceptionally wet weather was experienced, and it was found advisable to close the road to through traffic and, to make matters worse, a portion of the old road subsided. At the end of March weather conditions improved slightly, and some traffic was allowed through, but by April work on the large cutting had reached a stage when the lower road was being continually blocked by operations on the new road above, and it was impossible to ensure that large boulders did not roll onto the old road; the danger of damage to passing vehicles and of injury to drivers was so serious that the old road was closed until the new formation could be available for traffic at the end of May. ‘Road Closed’ barriers were therefore placed at North Richmond and Bell, although for light traffic there was an alternative route from Bilpin through Bowens Creek, Mt Irvine and Mt Wilson. By July 1947, the construction of the base course through the Mt Tomah cut was completed and work was pushed ahead east of Mt Tomah to Bilpin."1

Construction of the Mount Tomah cutting underway during 1947. (Department of Main Roads)

During 1947 construction of a deviation around Kurrajong Village was completed and between Cut Rock and Kurrajong Heights an abandoned alignment was reconditioned and used as a traffic detour during reconstruction of the road. The massive reconstruction program was finally completed in June 1949.

Mount Tomah cutting in 1950, showing completed earthworks and base course laid. (Department of Main Roads)

Since then, the DMR and RTA have made a number of safety improvements, including overtaking lanes on the steepest sections, safety ramps at Bellbird and Scenic Hills, and the provision of a Heavy Vehicle Checking Station at Bell. In the late 1990s sections between Mt Tomah and Bell were widened and a jersey median barrier installed to prevent head-on collisions.

Richmond Bridge

Bells Line of Road begins at the Richmond Bridge over the Hawkesbury River, 3km west of Richmond. The current bridge was constructed between January 1904 and September 1905 and is a thirteen-span Monier concrete arch structure. It replaced an earlier timber structure that had been severely battered by floodwaters and restored a number of times.

The first bridge over the Hawkesbury River at Richmond was planned in 1857 and completed by 1860, partly in response to an increase in traffic along Bells Line of Road caused by several goldrushes in central western NSW. The timber structure was battered by floods time and time again, and its abutments were severely damaged by the 1867 and 1970 floods which both caused large-scale scouring of the bank.

In April 1871, the inhabitants of Windsor, Richmond, Kurrajong and other road users "begged for the restoration of the privately constructed bridge which connected Richmond with the Bells Line of Road."2 In 1876 the Government purchased the timber bridge and restored, raised and extended it to better cope with the flooding. However, in 1900 the decking of the bridge was again severely damaged in flood and the river bed had silted up so far that the smallest floods were rendering the bridge impassable.

Construction of a new bridge was commenced in January 1904 and completed in September 1905, officially opened in conjunction with the openining of Bells Line of Road. The new bridge was a thirteen-span Monier concrete arch structure (Australia's largest reinforced concrete arch bridge at the time, and remained so for 25 years), with a deck level approximately 7m above the normal river level. The upstream handrail of the bridge is deisigned to allow it to be swung down onto the footway in the event of a flood (that exceeds the deck height). Until 1933 the bridge was allocated it own caretaker who was responsible for lowering and raising the handrail at appropriate times, ensuring that flood debris was passed under the bridge or diverted to calm water and preventing the public from danger in the event of flood or fire around the bridge. The caretaker also took responsible for general maintenance of the bridge.

A major change to the bridge structure came in 1926 as part of the construction of the Richmond-Kurrajong railway line - a third column was added to each pier to support two steel girders which carried the railway line across the river on the northern side of the bridge. The Kurrajong Line opened in November 1926 and continued from the Blacktown-Richmond Line at Richmodn Station, west through Richmond Park and along Kurrajong Road to the Richmond Bridge, before crossing Bells Line of Road at North Richmond and commencing a steep climb to Kurrajong. Heavy rain in June and July of 1952 caused land subsidence in the cuttings near Kurrajong. The rains had extensively damaged the tracks, buckling the railway, and had also caused land slips.Though there was much protest, the then Commissioner of Railways, Reg Winsor, notified the State Member for Hawkesbury in September 1952 that the line would not reopen. He cited the high costs involved in reopening it for such low returns as the reason for closure.3

The railway tracks were completely removed by 1956 and the Department of Main Roads set in motion plans to utilise the disused railway portion of the bridge for vehicular traffic and use the railway's eastern approach (Kurrajong Road) to straighten out four elthal right-angle bends on the Richmond approach to the bridge (Old Kurrajong Rd). Today, the eastbound traffic lane occupies what was once the Kurrajong railway line and a footway has been constructed on the southern side of the structure. Photographs showing the old eastern approach to the bridge can be found at the end of this section.

Floods continue to cause disruption to traffic crossing the bridge as frequently as once a year (although not recently because we haven't had any rain!) and silting up of the river bed and scouring of the banks have continued to be problematic. By 1950 there had been some community demand for a high-level bridge across the Hawkesbury, however the assurance from the State Government that the strategic storage of water in Warragamba Dam would prevent future flooding kept them at bay.

In 1978, several options were mooted for new bridges further south, to provide flood-free access to the western side of the Hawkesbury River however no plans for replacement of the current bridge were made at that stage. If the proposed Blue Mountains (aka Bells Line) Motorway is constructed, this will provide a high-level flood-free crossing of Hawkesbury River to compliment the existing Richmond Bridge.

More information on the Blue Mountains Motorway proposal can be found its page.

	This view is looking east along Windsor Street from Chapel St in Richmond. This was the route of Bells Line of Road, prior to the construction of the new eastern approach to Richmond Bridge which utilised the disused railway reservation. Note the cement concrete surfacing, probably done as a depression-era project. June 2006.
	Windsor Street again, this time looking west from Chapel Street. The cement concrete pavement ends, the road narrows and descends to cross Pughs Lagoon. I find it unusual that a concrete pavement was not provided along the flood-prone section through the Richmond lowlands. June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Road, looking east from Ridges Lane across the Richmond lowlands. This section of the road was prone to flooding, however strategic water storage at Warragamba Dam has reduced the severity of the floods. June 2006.
	The first of the four "lethal" right-angle bends on the original approach to Richmond Bridge. This view is looking west towards Ridges Lane. June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Rd again, this time looking north to Ridges Lane, showing an eastbound perspective of the right-angle bend. June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Rd, looking north between Kurrajong Rd (current SR40) and Ridges Lane. Note the narrow pavement - I doubt even when it was the main road the pavement would have been much wider. June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Rd, looking south at the junction with Kurrajong Rd (current SR40). This was the site of a railway level crossing between 1926 and 1952, and quite probably a dangerous one. There is limited sight distance in both directions (except from right on the Kurrajong Rd carriageway) although the grade coming up from Richmond Bridge would have helped keep trains at a relatively low speed. June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Rd, looking east at the junction with Yarramundi Lane (on right) - the 2nd "lethal" right angle bend. Nowadays, Old Kurrajong Rd doesnt even get a signpost (I missed the turn because of that and ended up halfway down Yarramundi Lane before i could do a u-turn!). June 2006.
	Old Kurrajong Rd, looking west from Yarramundi Lane (the 2nd "lethal" right-angle bend). This section of Old Kurrajong Rd is a no through road and serves only two properties - which explains why it is so overgrown. This is probably the original pavement widht, which gives you an idea of just how dangerous the old approaches were. June 2006.
	The third "lethal" right-angle bend, which is located at the end of Old Kurrajong Rd according to UBD (Sydway shows the final 50m of the road). June 2006.
	The actual end of Old Kurrajong Road, just metres before the Richmond Bridge. The fourth "lethal" right-angle bend was located just beyond where the road currently ends - the road turned to the left to cross the bridge alongside the railway line. Nowadays, the former rail reservation is used by Kurrajong Road (current SR40). Also note the very old remnants of double-yellow lines on the pavement in the foreground. June 2006.
	This is the current eastern approach to Richmond Bridge (Kurrajong Rd) looking west just before the bridge. The wooden overpass was constructed in 1925-26 to connect two sides of a property lining Old Kurrajong Rd and the Hawkesbury River that was severed by the construction of the railway line and this cutting. The original approach to the bridge came in from the left, just beyond the overpass, before turning to cross the bridge alongside the railway line. June 2006.
	A view of Richmond Bridge from Hanna Park (downstream side). Note the watermain that has been attached the downstream side of the bridge. June 2006.
	An oblique view looking east from Hanna Park (downstream side). Note the third colum that has been added to each pier, supporting the steel girders which once held the Richmond-Kurrajong railway line. Note that the steel girders have also been arched to match the Monier concrete arches of the original structure. June 2006.
	A closer view showing the concrete and steel girder arches side-by-side. June 2006.
	A view showing the remains of the abutment to the old timber structure (built in 1860 and replaced in 1905) that crossed the Hawkesbury River. Note how much lower the old structure was compared the current bridge (which still floods!). June 2006.

If these photos aren't enough for you, there are some interesting photos available on the Richmond-Kurrajong Railway site (http://www.hawkesburyhistory.org.au/railways/Pansy1.html), including some of the railway line on the current alignment of Kurrajong Rd and using the downstream (northern) side of Richmond Bridge.

Where does the name go?