Road Photos & Information: Victoria
M1 A1 Princes Highway, West Gate Freeway, CityLink, Monash Freeway & Princes Freeway (M1 / A1) - Cann River to NSW Border - Former Alignment: Genoa

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Route Numbering:

General Information:

M1 / A1 is a major route that crosses roughly from east to west in Victoria. The standard varies from single carriageway rural highway to full freeway standard.

Princes Highway (East):

The eastern section of the Princes Highway connects Traralgon to the Gippsland area and also Victoria's northeast. It's mostly undivided rural highway, generally one lane each way with occasional overtaking lanes. Several of the towns serviced by the route are very popular tourist destinations.

Genoa River Bridge:

The Genoa River Bridge is one of only five timber truss bridges to survive in Victoria, and of these, the Genoa Bridge has the maximum number of truss spans. Let out to tender in 1925 and completed in 1927, it is the only surviving example of a multi-span timber-truss bridge built by the Country Roads Board. Many Country Roads Board bridges were built during the 1920s with 80 feet span trusses of a standard design based on the American Howe type. While two other examples of this historic Country Roads Board timber-truss pattern survive, also in Gippsland, these only possess a single timber-truss span and simple beam approach spans. 2

The Genoa Truss Bridge is Victoria's only genuine "Highway Bridge" of the type illustrated in Victorian road-and-bridge construction manuals early this century. It was designed and built as an important link on the newly named Princes Highway, when that route provided the only trafficable motor connection between Melbourne and Sydney. 2

The bridge designers were T H Upton and D V Darwin. Upton was a pioneer expert in Australian concrete road-and-bridge technology, and became the foundation head of the New South Wales Main Roads Board. Darwin was a very eminent Victorian bridge engineer, who became Chairman of Victoria's Country Roads Board. The contractor who undertook the bridge's construction was J T Noble Anderson who pioneered concrete bridge construction in Victoria in partnership with John Monash, and became Victoria's most famous exponent of concrete-road construction while Engineer of the City of Richmond. 2

History:

Northbound Southbound
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Old Alignment:
Old section of Princes Hwy at Genoa, just after the original Genoa River Bridge, April 2010.

Image © Paul Rands

Genoa River Bridge:
Looking towards the Genoa town centre at the original Genoa River Bridge, April 2010.

Image © Paul Rands

Old Alignment:
Old section of Princes Hwy at Genoa, just after the original Genoa River Bridge, April 2010. This is now part of a rest area.

Image © Paul Rands

Genoa River Bridge:
Looking towards the Genoa town centre at the original Genoa River Bridge, April 2010.

Image © Paul Rands

1 Viseth Uch
2 Victorian Heritage Database, Genoa River Bridge

Last updated: 13-Feb-2019 19:11

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