1973: Weather Beacons atop Sydney buildings

Some will be aware that buildings in Sydney can and have acted as locations to monitor weather conditions. 

In 1957, the MLC Building in North Sydney became the first building in Sydney to have a weather beacon installed on its rooftop.

Sixteen years later (1973), The St George Permanent Building Society in Hurstville became the second location in Sydney to have a weather beacon installed. Light colours and changes could give locals the latest weather conditions.

Below are two clippings from The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader from its unveiling in 1973.

Source: Anon. 1973. "News beacon has a flash", The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, March 14:1.

Source: Anon. 1973. "Minister hit the right button". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, March 21: 11.

I believe that the weather beacon has since been removed; the date of which is unknown. 

Westpac Place in Kent Street has a weather beacon atop the building, but it uses electronic lighting placed in bars to tell Sydneysiders the current air pressure reading.  

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1987: The rumour of the demise of Tom Uglys Bridge

In 1987, The three lane (can be expanded to four lanes)  Georges River Bridge was completed running parallel to Tom Uglys Bridge on the Georges River between Blakehurst and Sylvania,

Source: Anon. 1987. "Tom Uglys: It's Staying". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, July 28: 1.  

Just months prior to its opening, The Sun reported that the Department of Main Roads (DMR) was considering pulling the bridge down citing structural concerns. The DMR responded by stating that refurbishment works would occur after the opening of Georges River Bridge. The DMR followed through on the refurbishment work.

The idea of the Tom Ugly's Bridge being demolished was never going to be valid as the Georges River Bridge was built to complement the original bridge and remove the bottle necks on the Princes Highway on either side of the river.

Maintenance works on the bridge is a daily part of life. As a local it appears that as one project ends, the other ends.

For the record, there was restoration work in the 2000's to address structural issues. Also it is listed on the NSW Heritage Register.

1962: Tom Ugly's Bridge as a double deck bridge?

In 1962, there was only one crossing over Georges River to link the Sutherland Shire with the rest of Sydney - Tom Ugly's Bridge. The bridge could only carry three lanes of traffic. The postwar years saw a boom in the population and congestion on the bridge approaches was becoming an ever increasing problem.

Source: Anon. 1962. "Engineer proposes an answer to the chaos". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, February 8: 1. 

One engineer - James Stewart had a plan that would allow for an additional three lanes built atop the existing lanes of the bridge. It was an efficient proposal, but the challenge would have been with the approaches to the bridge. This may have had implications on both sides of the bridge as we see it today. 

   

Source: Anon. 1962. "Cars could drive over the top of Tom Ugly's". The St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, February 8: 3. 

It was not until 1987, that a second bridge was built roughly parallel to the existing bridge - Georges River Bridge which would carry southbound traffic on the Princes Highway, allowing tom Ugly's Bridge to carry northbound traffic only. 

Also, he suggested a rail line traveling from Caringbah to Rockdale to relieve congestion on the single deck Como Bridge with the tracks incorporated into the soon to be built Captain Cook Bridge. He felt that while tenders had closed, the design could be modified. The line would have followed the corridor for the F6 (Southern) Freeway and rejoined the main Illawarra line at Rockdale. This would have led to significant reductions in commute times on the Cronulla branch line and provided South Coast services a second route through Southern Sydney.

Property Advert of the Week: Lugarno Homesites (1965)

We head south this week to Lugarno, where seven home sites were on sale on Forest Road in 1965. Based on the information in the advertisement the blocks encompass 1194-1208 Forest Road.
 

Source: John L. Nichols & Co. Pty. Ltd. 1965. "Lugarno: Quality Homesites (Advertisement)." The Daily Telegraph, October 23: 47.