Suburban Bridges
Swan Street, South Yarra (Yarra River): This bridge was the first of a series of bridges planned for Melbourne after an investigation of traffic congestion near the southern exits and entrances to the city of Melbourne in 1937. The bridge, planned in 1938, was built after the war in 1951 by the Country Roads Board. It is of reinforced concrete beam construction with seven spans, with the three middle spans designed to allow clearance for boat races. The engineers successfully used the new techniques of Flash Butt welding for reinforcement and Pre-mix concrete which improved the strength and durability of concrete and saved costs.
Formerly known as the Anderson Street Bridge, Anderson Street, South Yarra (Yarra River). The Morell Bridge, over the River Yarra at Anderson Street South Yarra, was constructed in 1899 and wrongly attributed to celebrated soldier and civil engineer John Monash. It was designed and constructed by Sydney based engineers, Carter and Gumnow, patentees of the Monier Construction System in Australia at a cost of £5700. At the time of its erection, concrete was a relatively new medium in bridge construction and was utilised in the relatively short-lived Monier arch style bridge. This example consists of three equal river spans, with concrete abuttments, concrete footpaths and cast-iron balustrade panels. It was the first significant reinforced concrete structure erected in Victoria.
The bridge was built across a new channel cut to eliminate a sharp S-bend in the Yarra River and upon completion, the Yarra River was diverted under it. The old course of the river had been crossed by a footbridge, but local residents and land owners organised a petition asking for a vehicular bridge. The bridge was erected on dry land, Morell Bridge is one of four distinct Yarra bridges that are on the Victorian Heritage Register, the others being Queens Bridge and the Sandridge Railway bridge and the Princes Bridge. Morell Bridge is important for being the earliest reinforced concrete bridge in Victoria and the earliest use of the Monier construction technique in Victoria.
Hoddle Street, South Yarra (Yarra River): Hoddle Bridge, opened in December 1938, was built to provide an arterial road from Wellington Parade to Punt Road to ease the traffic around M.C.G. and Richmond Station. It is named after the first surveyor of Melbourne, Robert Hoddle, who laid out the grid pattern of the city centre in the 1950s. It was designed by M.G.Dempster and W.A. Ozanne of Country Roads Board who built the project. It has five spans of continuous reinforced concrete beams of variable depth, giving it an arch like appearance.
Church Street, South Yarra (Yarra River): Built in 1921, the Church Street Bridgeis a three-span, seven-rib, reinforced concrete arch structure on piled foundations. It carries vehicular and tram traffic over a major arterial roadway and the Yarra River. When an extra lane was added to the arterial, engineers determined that the arch that spanned the roadway provided inadequate vertical clearance for traffic. The only solution was to replace the arch elements, and this had to be done without interrupting the flow of traffic over and under the bridge. The replacement arch was designed to be 0.6 m higher at the crown and 1.2 m higher at either end, and this would result in a redistribution of the forces within the structure.
When gold discoveries brought thousands of migrants to Victoria in the 1850s, a number of private companies were hastily formed to build country and suburban railway lines. The Melbourne, Mount Alexander and Murray River Railway began building a line from Spencer Street, Melbourne to Williamstown via Footscray. When the company ran out of funds, the Victorian Government took over the work, forming the Victorian Railways Department. Opened in 1859, the line, including this bridge, was the first project the Victorian Railways Department completed. The iron spans of the bridge were the largest of their kind in Victoria. The bridge was modified and duplicated in the twentieth century when the original iron girders were replaced with steel.
Known locally as the Quarter Mile Bridge, the Maribyrnong River Viaduct carries the Albion-Jacana railway line across the Maribyrnong River in the western suburbs of Melbourne. It is located near the E.J. Whitten Bridge, and is 400 metres long (hence the quarter mile name). It was built in 1927-29 and was the largest trestle bridge in Australia at the time. It is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and employed 200 during construction, with one fatality. The main traffic over the bridge is freight services, but it also carries the Melbourne to Sydney CountryLink XPT. It is the second highest bridge in the state, only behind the West Gate Bridge (58 metres). At a height of 54.6 metres above the surface of the water, it is even higher than the Sydney Harbour Bridge (52 metres).
This wrought iron box girder, single-span bridge which took Calder Highway across the Maribyrnong River at Keilor, was erected on bluestone abutments in 1868 to replace the original 1853 timber bridge, which had been washed away. Also known as the Keilor Road Bridge and the Old Iron Bridge, its design was seen as adventurous and experimental for its time as it had no direct comparisons in Victoria. It is, however, very similar to a number of railway bridges built around that time near Sydney, the most well known being the Menangle Railway Bridge. It was fabricated by the Melbourne engineer, Enoch Chambers, who doubtless gain inspiration for the bridge from his New South Wales counterparts. The bridge has been restored, and has been bypassed with the construction of a new concrete bridge on the downstream side in 1963. The through traffic was again diverted from that bridge, and Keilor itself, with the construction of the twin bridges for the Calder Freeway, this time upstream, in 1987. The bridge sits on bluestone abutments with decorative pillars and wingwalls. An overhead stiffening arch was removed in 1963 and replaced with a steel -fabricated rectangular portal, to provide greater clearance for trucks. The original arch, stored for many years at Calder Park raceway, was recently restored and refitted. The main boxed girders encase arch beams which spread the load, and appear to have included some pre-tensioning, as the bridge itself has a slight curvature.
In 1839 Port Phillip s first Police Magistrate, Captain William Lonsdale, placed a punt on the Saltwater River at approximately this point. This was an essential service as the river and the swampy land to the east were formidable barriers on the routes between Melbourne and Williamstown or Geelong. Prior to 1839 the safest river crossing place, a ford near present day Avondale Heights, took travellers several kilometres out of their way. In the 1880s the Melbourne Harbour Trust reclaimed the West Melbourne swampland before building Footscray Road and a bridge connecting the new road to Footscray. Opened in 1895, the swing bridge rotated around a central pier in the river, allowing vessels to pass through to wharves further upstream. Shepherd Bridge, replaced the swing bridge in 1958. This bridge was named after Ernie Shepherd, local state Labor MP who had, only months before his sudden death in 1958, succeeded to the position of Leader of the Opposition in Victoria. The bridge is one of three on this stratech of the river, the others being a railway bridge and the Hopetoun Bridge.
Old Melbourne Road, Little River: Located on the old highway between Geelong and Melbourne, the Rothwell Bridge over the Little River at Rothwell was erected as a double span segmental arched stone structure in 1866-67 from designs prepared by the Shire of Wyndham Engineer, John Baxter. Clement Nash was the contractor. The bridge and approaches were partially destroyed by flood in September 1880, and PE Nolan, Shire of Wyndham Engineer, designed the present segmental arch bridge from spans, apparently reconstructing the original section and widening the approaches. Rothwell bridge has been by-passed by the modern Melbourne-Geelong Rd, however it is still in use as a road bridge.
The Rothwell Bridge is four span structure with piers separating the central two arches from the end ones. The structure is faced with rusticated bluestone masonry and has substantial abutments. Features are the voussoirs, imposts, string courses and piers.
Monbulk Creek, near Belgrave: A major component of the Puffing Billy tourist railway, this 85 metre long, 12 metre high curved trestle bridge was erected as part of the Belgrave to Selby narrow guage railway running through a section of the Dandenong Ranges. The bridge consists of 14 spans of six metres - curved to an unusually tight radius of 20 metres. The Railway is the sole survivor of four experimental lines used to develop rural areas in the early 1900's. Puffing Billy is now a major tourist attraction, its operation depending on hundreds of dedicated volunteers.
During the late 1800's bullock drays were used to carry timber, plants from Nobelius Nursery, potatoes and other vegetables from the farms in the Emerald area. In winter the tracks became too muddy for the bullock drays to get through.The farmers, timber mill owners and the Nobelius family put pressure on the government to build a train line up into the hills.There was already a broad guage train line from Melbourne to Ferntree Gully. In 1900 the narrow guage railway line opened between Ferntree Gully and Gembrook. The first trip was on 18th December 1900. Puffing Billy was used to take people and goods between Ferntree Gully and Gembrook. The farms in the Emerald and Gembrook area grew potatoes, carrots and other vegetables as well as the huge Nobelius Nursery which all used Puffing Billy to transport their goods to Melbourne to the markets and to be shipped to other places. Puffing Billy became very popular for bringing visitors up to the hills area.
In 1952 a landslide blocked the track and Puffing Billy had to stop until it was cleared. In 1953 a really big landslide came across the railway tracks at the same place but this time the railway was officially closed. A lot of people were upset to see Puffing Billy stop so they got together and started the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. Many volunteers worked to build new stations and lay new tracks so Puffing Billy could run again from Belgrave to Menzies Creek, then after more work, to Emerald Lake.
Kalkallo to Donnybrook Road, Kalkallo: This sturdy bluestone bridge was erected in 1876. A short time earlier, ratepayers of the Donnybrook Riding of the Shire of Merriang had petitioned Council praying that "a bridge be erected over the Mull Creek on the Yan Yean Road before any other monies will be expended in this riding". The bridge was constructed by R. Anderson at a cost of 679 Pounds 13s 9d. It was officially opened by Cr. F.R. Godfrey Esq. J.P., MLA on 24 May 1876, Queen Victoria's birthday, and named the Victoria Bridge in her honour". The single arched bridge is executed in rough faced ashlar blocks. It has particularly long abutments.
An elegant bluestone drainage spout has been let in above the keystone producing a design dominated by a wall of bluestone and an opening appearing to be comparatively small. The stone capping and balustrade string course are expressed with projecting tooled edge stones. This is similar to the Rothwell bridge (1866) at Little River and the Barwon Bridge at Winchelsea 1867 which though grander four and three arch designs respectively, they employ the same masonry detailing including as is here expressed voussoirs which do not project. The structure is a fine example of small bluestone bridge construction used for secondary roads in the pre-concrete era. Its masonry detailing is notable of State significance. In March 1990, the City of Whittlesea announced that a decision had been made to realign Donnybrook Road around the old bridge and build a new crossing nearby.
Jackson's Creek, near Rupertswood: Built around 1859 on the Melbourne-Sandhurst (now Bendigo) line, this five-arch stone bridge was built to a Classical Revival design featuring Roman arches springing from piers with unusual transverse abuttments to the creek, joinging a rare bluestone channel.
Chandler Highway, Kew (Yarra River): In Melbourne's early days there were two ferries across the river at Burnley, one being the Twickenham ferry. It was replaced by the MacRobertson bridge in 1935. MacRobertson's, a well-respected confectionery manufacturer founded in 1880, has a proud history of philanthropy - both MacRobertson's Girls High School and MacRobertson's Bridge were named after the company's founder.
Kane's Bridge is the pedestrian suspension bridge over the Yarra River near the Studley Park Boathouse. The boathouse was originally built in 1863 and it has been in continuous usage since then. The nearby picnic ground was one of two of the most popular 19th century picnic grounds. The original bridge was built in 1927 (or 1929 according to some references). It was then rebuilt in 1935 after the disasterous flood of 1934 by Unemployed Relief Scheme workers (who also built the nearby Yarra Boulevard). It links Studley Park and Yarra Bend Park and is named after Councillor T.J. Kane of Collingwood, who was also on the Yarra Bend Management Committee.
