Port Adelaide - Bridges
A proposed bridge is discussed in the Observer,
8 July 1854, page 10b,
19 August 1854, page 4g.
"Old Port Adelaide {Bridges and Wharfs]" is in the Register,
26 April 1918, page 5b.
A meeting called to discuss the need for a "bridge across the creek" is reported
in the Register,
18 and 28 August 1855, pages 2g and 3h. Also see
Observer,
7 February 1857, page 1h (supp.),
Register,
7 February 1857, page 3d,
17 June 1857, page 3d,
30 July 1857, page 2h,
10 August 1858, page 3a,
6 January 1859, page 2f.
Information on a wooden bridge "across the creek" is in the Register,
31 March 1858, page 2f; also see
Observer,
3 April 1858, page 5h,
15 January 1859, page 7d,
25 March 1859, page 4e,
Register,
25 March 1859, page 2h,
30 May 1859, page 2h;
an attempted highway robbery near the bridge is reported on
18 July 1859, page 2d; also see
22 April 1869, page 3g.
Information on a swing bridge is in the Observer,
20 March 1858, page 7e.
The opening of the SA Company's Swing Bridge is reported in the Register,
10 August 1858, page 3b; also see
16 December 1879, page 6g and
4, 11 and 14 June 1881, pages 5b, 5d-6d and 7a for details of legal action
brought against the SA Company in respect of the bridge and
6 August 1881 (supp.), page 2g,
6 September 1881, page 5b,
15 September 1883 (supp.), page 2e,
Chronicle,
3 November 1883, page 6f.
Reminiscent comment on the Jervois Bridge and others of earlier days is in The
Mail,
4 and 11 February 1928, pages 16e and 2c.
A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian in
March 1878,
Frearson's Weekly,
19 July 1879, page 177 and
a photograph in the Chronicle,
28 August 1930, page 35.
"Fire at the North Arm Bridge" is in the Observer,
18 January 1873, page 7g,
"New Bridge at Port Adelaide" on
19 April 1873, page 7c.
Information on "The Port Bridge" is in the Chronicle,
11 March 1871, page 6e,
13 and 27 January 1872, pages 6f and 4f,
Observer,
13 and 27 January 1872, pages 12d and 10f,
3 February 1872, page 4a,
Register,
11 January 1872, page 4e - "If inspections could have cured it, it would be
the soundest bridge in the colony..."; also see
Express,
10 and 23 January 1872, pages 2f and 2f,
Observer,
3 February 1872, page 4a,
17 February 1872, page 13f,
Register,
12 February 1872, page 4f,
24 February 1873, page 6d.
By 1873 the bridge had further deteriorated:
-
[Its] weather-beaten supports, swelled joints and strained back have borne
so many insults and such loads of carts and contumely till it groans have,
we hope, at last touched the hearts of an unfeeling government... There is
a fine expanse of water southward of this tottering old pensioner...
(Register, 24 November 1873, page 6c.)
On 3 February 1874, page 5e the Editor of the Register opined:
-
Not even the lightest-footed can pass over the Port Creek Bridge without hearing
[it] creak, and its shakiness is not its only fault. The roadway is so narrow
that two vehicles cannot pass each other...
On 18 May 1874, page 5c a reporter says in the Register:
-
The dredges are gradually approaching the bridge and when the work is continued
within five feet of the footway the erection at that point must tumble...
Also see Register,
9 June 1874, page 6f;
2 and 3 September 1874, pages 3e and 3f,
18 and 19 February 1875, pages 6e and 5a,
The Lantern,
5 September 1874, page 5c.
By 26 February 1876 (see page 5d of the Register) the situation was such to prompt a statement that "the traffic which is now passing over the bridge is attended with imminent danger..."
Information on the Semaphore railway bridge is in the Observer,
18 July 1874, page 8a,
5 and 19 September 1874, pages 2g and 13f.
The demolition of the old bridge and the erection of "a skeleton of a bridge
[which] has been hastily put up..." is reported in the Register,
4 September 1876, page 5d.
A progress report on the new bridge appears on
7 December 1876, page 5c; also see
Advertiser,
24 January 1877, page 6d,
Chronicle,
3 February 1877, page 12c.
A poem is in the Observer,
15 December 1877, page 13f.
A description of a train crossing the new bridge is reported in the Register,
1 January 1878, page 5c.
Its official opening is reported on
7 February 1878, pages 5a and 6c.
The opening of the Jervois Bridge is reported in the Observer,
9 February 1878, page 12a; also see
The News,
7 January 1924, page 7d.
A proposed swing-bridge at the Port Dock is reported in the Register,
24 May 1879, page 5b,
Observer,
31 May 1879, page 12f.
A report on the testing of the American Swing Bridge at the New Dock is in
the Register,
9 September 1880, page 7b - see
21 September 1880, page 6e for the opening of the dock.
"The Bridge Dispute at Port Adelaide" is in the Register,
11 June 1881, page 6d; also see
6 August 1881, page 2g (supp.).
"Bridge at the Old Port" is in the Register,
24 September 1881, page 5b,
22 October 1881, page 5b.
Information on the Fisher Bridge is in the Observer,
20 January 1883, page 35b.
The opening of the Robinson Bridge is reported in the Register,
27 October 1883, page 6b; also see
Express,
29 July 1886, page 2e,
4 April 1906, page 4c.
A photograph is in the Chronicle,
21 March 1935, page 36.
A proposal to open the Jervois bridge is discussed in the Register,
6 May 1892, page 5b.
Local bridges are discussed on
6 July 1915, page 6c.
"Electric Gongs at Jervois Bridge" is in the Register,
4 April 1894, page 5c.
Information on Tucker Bridge is in the Register,
7 January 1897, page 5c.
A proposed bridge to Birkenhead is discussed in the Express,
31 August 1900, page 4b.
"A Slow-Going [Robinson] Bridge" is in the Advertiser,
19 August 1904, page 4e,
"A New Port Bridge - An Optimistic Deputation" on
12 August 1922, page 12g.
"Another Bridge Wanted" is in the Express,
5 July 1915, page 4c.
"A Blunder and a Bridge" is in the Register,
14 August 1922, page 6e.
"[Floating] Bridge Removed", the former wooden steamer Gem, is in The
News,
20 July 1927, page 12e.
Information on the proposed Birkenhead bridge is in the Register,
7 and 8 November 1928, pages 10 (photo.) and 10h.
