The $2.3 million upgrade to replace the single-lane wooden bridge with a dual-lane concrete structure was a joint project between the state and federal governments and Upper Hunter Shire Council.

It was also a project that locals had been crying out for for years. 

Hamish Henderson who lives at the neighbouring “Middlebrook Station” is the fourth generation of the Henderson family, with his children being the fifth, to live at Middlebrook and use the bridge in its former and current state.

He says even before the original Middlebrook Bridge his family were using the old creek crossing.

“It’s a very proud day for five generations of the family to be involved in the local area and the Middlebrook Bridge,” he said.

“The project has been on the books for probably the last ten or so years.

“The old bridge was dilapidated, pretty much a safety issue and causing restrictions on loading limits, trucking stock and even the local school bus.”

Previously, Cressfield Road on the New England Highway was the access point for trucking sheep and cattle out of properties at Middlebrook.

“It made it three times as long to come to Scone,” Mr Henderson said.

“The other thing is on a tourism front, the washpools have become a go to place for the locals, so the traffic patterns in the last two or three years on the Middlebrook Road have changed dramatically.

“There’s a lot more traffic out here and it’s not just local traffic so infrastructure like this makes it a lot safer.”

Member for New England Barnaby Joyce said the project was a vital piece of economic infrastructure which would take the economy of the Upper Hunter ahead.

“Before it was a day at the track as to how you were going to go getting across it,” he laughed.

“People drove across the top but if they had a look underneath they might have gone a lot slower or just walked.

“Replacing the old timber bridge that had stood here for more than a century means we can finally remove the load limit for heavy vehicles and provide a more direct route for producers and businesses using this road.”

Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen also agreed it was a bridge long overdue for replacement.

“To be able to say we have spent $2.3 million of your tax payers’ dollars for a piece of important infrastructure like this that’s going to last in excess of 100 years is absolutely fantastic value,” he said.

“It’s about making sure that we build the infrastructure and the liveability – not only for lifestyle but for business, for agriculture, moving stock, freight, safety, families, school buses – all of these things rely on a good road and bridge infrastructure.”