It was designed by Ernest de Burgh (engineer) and the New South Wales Department of Public Works and built from 1900 to 1902.

In NSW, the availability of excellent hardwoods provided Public Works engineers McDonald, Allan, Dare and De Burgh with a uniquely strong and durable material for timber truss bridges.

Timber beam bridges served NSW well for 150 years as relatively inexpensive structures to aid the movement of goods and people.

[1] The emergence of steel in the latter half of the nineteenth century provided a cheaper, stronger and more adaptable material for bridges than cast or wrought iron.

Allan Truss - Built from 1893 to 1929, the Allan type also used cast iron connection pieces and vertical iron rods but was a significant improvement on the McDonald type, with most main members doubled and spaced, a simplified tensioning system and using smaller individual pieces of timber.

For the inland river system of the Darling, Murray and Murrumbidgee, the majority of craft were paddle-steamers and loaded barges.

However, during high water level periods, particularly floods, additional headroom was required and this was provided by an opening span over the main channel.

During the 1870s, the closer settlement of the Riverina region for agriculture was struggling with the vagaries of climate and water in western NSW.

Selectors obtained land and, in optimal conditions, produced excellent yields, with wheat predominating over other crops.

In 1893, representatives of the three states met in Melbourne and considered the matter of installing locks on the Murray River to preserve supplies for irrigation, whilst permitting ongoing navigation.

These conflicts of interests tended to stymie any co-ordinated action and the matter of apportioning the Murray's waters between the states remained unresolved.

As independent states in economic competition with each other, the idea of co-operative action for mutual benefit was rife with complications and arguments.

The government leaders decided that a tri-state Royal Commission should be set up to investigate the 'conservation and distribution of the Murray and its tributaries for the purposes of irrigation, navigation and water supply'.

[1] The construction of the bridge across the Murray River at Cobram-Barooga became evidence of the value of the wool industry in the vicinity and of the economic flows of goods between NSW and Victoria in the late nineteenth century.

The eastern (NSW) side has been truncated and retains only one timber beam approach span, which terminates in a steel fence and stair to ground level.

The outer ends of the lift span are carried on twin cylindrical cast iron piers with intermediate perforated steel plate braces.

[1] Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 April 2016 having satisfied the following criteria.

The importance of the bridge was to provide access for heavy goods vehicles to deliver agricultural produce from NSW to the railhead at Cobram for transport to the markets and wharves of Melbourne.

In this regard, the bridge is a relic of the nineteenth century economy of Australia, which was focused upon agricultural produce, particularly wool and wheat, much of which was created in the southwest of NSW and north-west of Victoria.

The goldrushes, cattle droving, mobs of sheep and laden wool wagons are all key iconic images of Australian colonial history in which the Murray River has had a significant role or relationship.

[1] The inclusion of a lift-span in the Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge has historical significance as a relic of the commercial value of the shipping traffic using the Murray River in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

The importance of this trade over the previous four decades was such that it was key to the development of the state of Victoria and the nineteenth century prosperity of Melbourne, as evidenced by the investment in railway construction serving this area, and was influential in the early economic development of South Australia, as evidenced by the horse-drawn tramway from Goolwa to Port Elliot, serving the Murray River steamer trade, being completed two years prior to the establishment of railways in Adelaide.

At the end of the nineteenth century, all three states desired access to the Murray River waters for agricultural irrigation.

The story of the Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge in this context represents a singular example of the myriad of similar issues that led to the federation of the states (rather than any other outcome) at the beginning of the twentieth century.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The adoption of the vertical-lift type of opening bridge for river crossings in NSW in the late nineteenth century required creative and original engineering, as the existing precedents overseas had little direct application.

It is featured prominently in local tourism brochures and websites and the story of the bridge is closely tied to the history and identity of the two townships.

(Local Significance)[1] The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.

[1] The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.