Hawthorn Railway Bridge

Hawthorn Railway Bridge crosses the Yarra River five kilometres east of Melbourne connecting Richmond railway station, Melbourne and Hawthorn Station on the Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale Railway Lines. It is the oldest extant railway bridge over the Yarra River.

Hawthorn Railway Bridge was built in 1861 to the design of Francis Bell.^[1], with a span of about 60 m., being one of the last major items of permanent way to be completed on the fledgling railway. The contractors were George Cornwell and Co.

Cornwell had previously been involved as contractor in many other major construction works including the Melbourne Grammar School, the Model School, Coppin’s Haymarket Theatre, the Sunbury railway goods shed and other Melbourne and Suburban Railway works. Subsequently he was a contractor on Parliament House, Albert Park Station, Jack’s Magazine^[2] and the Wallaby Creek water supply.

It is likely that Kennedy Smith was involved in the design, but was perhaps out of his depth. He ordered trusses which were inadequate for the job, and had to shorten them, suggesting he did not understand the design. Construction of the bridge was partly delayed because the first order for iron lattice girders or trusses, intended to span the river, were lost. A newspaper account gives some of the details:

Whilst at Sandridge we paid a visit to the wreck of the Herald of the Morning, a ship which some months ago was burned to the water's edge, and scuttled in Hobson's Bay, In it was a large iron bridge, intended to be erected over the Yarra River at Hawthorn, but it being supposed that it would be entirely destroyed by the fire, the contractors sent home to England for another bridge. The wreck was purchased by Ingles, Adams, and Gresham, of Sandridge, and exertions were made to raise it, but it was not until after weeks of hard labour that success attended their exertions. The hulk was then towed to a pier, and, at length, not only the bridge, but other iron articles, have been re deemed, very slightly injured.^[3]

The extended line from Picnic (east of Burnley) to Hawthorn was opened on 13 April 1861.^[4] The bridge was duplicated in 1882 by the Railways Construction Branch and minor works to the bearings and girder ends were made in 1887-8 to lower the levels of its girders by 6 inches. A new double-track bridge using large double Warren trusses was built on its north side in 1912. The bridge was extended westwards in 1938-39 when a new span was added to cross the Yarra Boulevard, which was constructed as a scenic drive by Sustenance workers in the Depression. In 1971, the original piers were strengthened and the bridge widened to take a third track. The earliest views of the Hawthorn Railway Bridge show it to be a deck lattice girder with five intersects. The main span over the river was flanked by segmental stone arch spans on either side.^[5]

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