Dawes Point and Blues Point Vehicular Ferry Ramps

Before the Sydney Harbour Bridge, direct vehicular access to the North Shore - initially for horse-drawn vehicles, was by steam-driven vehicular punts.

Vehicular punts of the North Shore Ferry Co started in 1862, from Dawes to Milsons Point and later from Fort Macquarie to Milsons Point. They ceased when the Sydney Harbour Bridge opened in 1932. It is suspected that when the Fort Macquarie - Milsons Point service commenced, a new terminal was constructed at Blues for the Dawes Point run.

At each site there were two docks which were of timber piling with a ramp at the end. At Dawes Point a wharf divided the docks, on which coal was stored for fueling the ferries. With completion of the Bridge, the piling and wharf were demolished and much later on – post 1943, Hickson Road was realigned around the Bridge’s abutment at Dawes Point, with the work including removal of the western ferry ramp and narrowing of the eastern ramp.

At Blues Point, the piling was removed after the ferries ceased, and safety barriers were erected at the end of the ramps.