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Removing the old Watkins Bridge, 14 July 1973
Photo Ref: 2324
This was a vehicular bridge connecting Boolaroo and Teralba, and for many years was a major access road to the western side of Lake Macquarie. Watkins Bridge was built in 1899 and crossed Cockle Creek from First Street. The approach was later changed to Second Street. It was named after Davey Watkins, state M.P. for Wallsend in 1894, 1895 and 1898. Before that time the crossing was carried out by means of a punt owned by a Chinese man named 'George,' who lived at Cockle Creek. The early 1970s saw plans made for two replacement bridges to be built over the five islands at the entrance to Cockle Creek. The first bridge was completed in July 1972, with the second to be completed later that year. Demolition of the old bridge began on 13 July 1973.
This work by Lake Macquarie City Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
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