bridges constructed in NSW The first bridge constructed in NSW was built in 1788. The bridge was a simple timber bridge constructed over the Tank Stream, near what is today the intersection of Pitt and Bridge Streets in the Sydney central business district. Soon after its construction, it was washed away and needed to be replaced. The first "permanent" bridge in NSW was the first bridge's successor. This was a stone arch bridge with a span of erected in 1803. However this was not a triumph of colonial bridge engineering, as it collapsed after only three years of service. It took a further five years for the bridge to be rebuilt in an improved form. Prior to the arrival of David Lennox in the Colony in 1832, NSW was without expert knowledge in bridge design and construction. Lennox, who had worked with the famous bridge engineer Thomas Telford, became the Superintendent of Bridges for NSW in 1833. During the first 60 years of the Colony, the majority of bridges were built from stone or timber, in the same manner as bridges being constructed in Britain and Europe. Stone was the bridge building material of choice in NSW, with construction costs kept low by the use of convict labour. However, with the cessation of convict transportation in the 1840s and subsequent rise in labour costs, bridge designers were forced to explore the use of other materials in bridge construction, leading to the eventual adoption of timber as the economical alternative. The size and quantity of readily available Australian hardwoods in the 1800s allowed the design and construction of efficient timber truss bridge designs reaching respectable spans. History of suspension bridges in NSW The history of the construction of suspension road bridges in NSW is rather limited compared to the more commonly built timber truss, steel, lift and concrete bridges that have been constructed in NSW since the 1800s. Suspension bridges have been more widely used as pedestrian bridges such as at river, creek and bay crossings (for example Hunter River, Moonan Flat and Parsley Bay, Vaucluse). The first suspension road bridge constructed in NSW was at Long Gully, Northbridge in Sydney that was opened to traffic in 1892. It was built as a timber deck suspension bridge with steel cables and ornate sandstone turreted towers by private developers to promote future residential development to the north. The original suspension bridge was