Argyle Cut

In the early days of the Colony the sandstone ridge which gave its name to The Rocks was a formidable barrier to movement from one side to the other. The need developed for a convenient link between the commercial centre around Sydney Cove and the maritime developments of Millers Point, Darling Harbour and Walsh Bay.

Excavation of the Argyle Cut was commenced in 1843 by Colonial Engineer Lieutenant Colonel George Barney with convicts from Hyde Park Barracks - some of them in chains, using picks and shovels. Spoil from the excavation went into reclamation of the estuary of the Tank Stream, behind the Circular Quay seawall. However, the convicts only succeeded in excavating the two ends as the rock proved too hard for manual removal, and the project was abandoned.

Eventually, in 1864 labourers from Sydney Municipal Council cut down the middle to a trafficable level using explosives. Overhead bridges were built for Gloucester Street in 1862, Cumberland Street in 1864 and Princes Street in 1867-68. As part of the improvements undertaken by the Sydney Harbour Trust in 1911-12, Gloucester and Cumberland Streets were realigned and two of the road bridges over the Argyle Cut were replaced by a single bridge at Cumberland Street, and the Argyle Stairs were constructed.

In the 1920s the Public Works Department constructed a concrete arch bridge to take the southern approaches - the Bradfield Highway, of the Sydney Harbour Bridge over the Cut, the Princes Street Bridge was demolished and the Argyle Cut was widened.

The concrete arch bridge that took Cumberland Street over the Cut was replaced by the Public Works Department in 1956-57 with the third prestressed concrete bridge built in Sydney.

The Argyle Cut is on the State Heritage Register.