New Lake Northam bridge continues long legacy of pond pathway

Words by Samuel Garrett

Lake Northam’s new pedestrian bridge has opened to little fanfare in Victoria Park. The 10-week Victoria Park Bridge Renewal Works by engineering firm MCM has given Lake Northam just its third bridge in a century and a half, once again securing pedestrian access across the calm waters between its western and eastern shores.

The rebuild of the bridge was needed due to the deteriorating structure of the previous bridge and weakening of its timber beams, which were reaching the end of their expected lifespan.

“There is clear intention of retaining the overall bridge aesthetics,” said MCM Community Liaison Officer Phillip Britten.

Much of the new bridge sees like-for-like replacements, along with strengthened piles and hand-painted wood “to enhance the look of the bridge and help in protection of the timber for a longer period,” according to MCM. However, in a first for Lake Northam spans, mesh has been installed as part of the new handrail, in compliance with new bridge safety rules.

Photographs of Lake Northam in the late 1800s reveal a sprawling body of water worthy of the now-overstated title ‘Lake’, despite then being known as the ‘University waterhole’ or ‘horse pond’. The original bridge dates to the establishment of architect Edmund Blacket’s University Avenue axis from City Road to the Quadrangle in the 1870s, which required the construction of a bridge over the remnants of Blackwattle Creek.

The original bridge over the future Lake Northam , c.1900. Source: University of Sydney Archives

The latest and greatest Lake Northam bridge under construction, March 2023

The bridge and its lush surrounds featured in postcards from 1900, and was still standing by the 1930s, when the then-’pond’ was drained to allow construction of stone walls around its edges to prevent erosion.

The draining of Lake Northam.

Source: City of Sydney Archives

Sadly, the bridge’s days over the new-and-improved lake were numbered. In 1955, the lake was again drained and greatly reduced in size. By June 1956, the bridge had been swept away along with the remnants of Blacket’s grand entrance to the University.

End of an era — the first Lake Northam bridge is demolished, June 1956. Source: City of Sydney Archives

Victoria Park would remain bridgeless for the next forty years, with the once-grand Lake Northam reduced to a piddling puddle. However, the bridge made a triumphant return in the 1990s when the then-South Sydney City Council decided to resurrect the Lake Northam of old, reestablishing Blacket’s avenue and a bridge over an expanded lake by 1998.

A bridgeless Puddle Northam, 1990s. Source: City of Sydney Archives

In recent years, adjustments and improvements to Lake Northam have continued. In January 2017, it was again dredged and refilled with more wetland flora and rubbish traps, though the long-term success of such measures has not gone without skepticism. With the decision of the City of Sydney to rebuild the bridge this year, Lake Northam is now graced with a new span that may lack the profile of its harbourside brethren, but is no shorter on charm and scenery.

The Lake Northam Bridge v2.0, 2003. Source: City of Sydney Archives