The reconstruction of the historic Thomas James Bridge near Lower Macdonald has received the prestigious Judges' Excellence Award in Heritage at the IPWEA NSW & ACT Engineering Awards 2026.
The award was accepted by Hawkesbury City Council Acting General Manager Will Barton at the 2026 State Conference in April.
The 1830s convict-built bridge – the oldest in-use vehicle bridge on mainland Australia - was damaged significantly during the floods and storm events in 2022, including the near total collapse of the eight-metre tall sandstone retaining walls supporting the bridge's abutments.
Completed in November 2025, the extensive two-year restoration required a tailor-made engineering solution designed in close consultation with heritage experts, including the excavation of the site down to the bedrock to install new steel and concrete footings and drainage that will be resilient in the face of future flooding and rain events.
Its hand-cut sandstone block retaining wall had to be carefully disassembled with each block numbered, original position recorded and placed into storage until the wall could be reassembled. The timber bridge deck was also reinstated to maintain the historical significance and visual characteristics of the site.
Mr Barton thanked staff and delivery partner Delaney Civil, which worked with Council to deliver the restoration, and the Macdonald Valley community for the patience and trust they placed in Council to deliver the project.
"This is an incredible achievement and a testament to the hard work a great many people put in to rebuild Thomas James Bridge, which not only provides an important connection for the Macdonald Valley but also an important connection to our past," Mr Barton said.
"We met the disaster-impacted community in their place and time, keeping them at the centre of our decision making and advocacy and we managed this in-house, in spite of the complexity and value. And for that I and our delivery team can be exceptionally proud."
Hawkesbury City Council managed the $23.5 million project with funding from Federal and State Government infrastructure recovery programs.
History of the bridge and its namesake
Thomas James Bridge, which has been alternatively called Settlers Road Bridge, is one of eight surviving bridges on the Great North Road (of an original 22).
The simple single span timber bridge deck is supported by massive stone abutments, the stone for which was quarried from the surrounding hillside and worked on site. Some large stones lying at the head of the gully show evidence of the quarrying and splitting of stones. The stone was all quarried, cut and moved into place by hand, and forms a 16.3-metre-long channel along the banks of the creek.
It was built under the broad supervision of Percy Simpson – surveyor, engineer and administrator – who was instrumental in the design and oversight of the Great North Road. Thomas James, who was a ticket-of-leave convict, was the supervisor directly in charge of the No. 25 Road Party who built the bridge. He arrived in NSW in December 1819, aged 24, onboard the Recovery, with 187 other convicts, having been sentenced to life for an unknown crime.
By 1824, James was in the Bathurst Road Party stationed at Richmond, before being transferred to No. 25 Road Party at Wisemans Ferry, when the bridge was built. By 1837, he was living at Penrith and, in 1842, he obtained a conditional pardon.
