Princes Bridge, Melbourne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge
Official name Princes Bridge
Carries trams, road vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists
Crosses Yarra River
Locale Melbourne, Australia
Design Arch bridge
Opening date 4 October 1888

The Princes Bridge is a historic bridge that crosses the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia. The bridge connects Swanston Street on Yarra River's northern bank to St Kilda Road on the southern bank.

Melbourne Southbank & Princes Bridge
Melbourne Southbank & Princes Bridge

This bridge is the third to have existed on this site, the first being a wooden trestle bridge which opened in 1844,[1] later replaced by a single span sandstone bridge designed by David Lennox which opened in 1851.[1] The sandstone bridge was at the time the longest single span bridge in the world. It lasted for a good thirty-five years until an increase in traffic across the bridge and the need to widen the river required that a longer bridge was built.

The present bridge is named after Edward, Prince of Wales and was built between 1886 and 1888. It opened on 4 October 1888 and is 30 metres (99 feet) wide and 120 metres (400 feet) long.

The bridge is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

The Princes Bridge was designed by John Grainger (1855-1917), the father of the Australian composer Percy Grainger.

It was restored for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Some significant dates in the History of the City of Melbourne", City of Melbourne

[edit] External links

A lamp on the bridge
A lamp on the bridge