Sandridge Bridge Over the Yarra River @ Melbourne, Australia-04556

            From Wikipedia:

The Sandridge Bridge is a historic bridge, originally carrying a railway, over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs diagonally to the river's banks. In 2006 it was redeveloped as a pedestrian and cycle path featuring public art. It is the third bridge on the site and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.

The bridge is 178.4 metres (585 ft) long and is made up of five spans, measuring in length, from the south bank to the north bank: 36.9 metres (121.1 ft), 36.6 metres (120.1 ft), 36.3 metres (119.1 ft), 36.9 metres (121.1 ft) and 31.7 metres (104 ft). The bridge is 17 metres (55.8 ft) wide and the girders are 2.74 metres (8.98 ft) high from the top to the bottom of the flange.

The current bridge was designed by the Victorian Railways and the contract let to David Munro & Co in 1886, the four track bridge opening for traffic in 1888. The actual junction of the Port Melbourne and St Kilda lines was at Flinders Street, with the two pairs of tracks running parallel until Clarendon Street, where the St Kilda line diverged south. Constructed at a 33-degree angle to the river bank, it was one of the first railway structures in Melbourne to use steel girders rather than iron, and the workforce included a young engineering student, John Monash. On either side of the river the steel girders were supported by bluestone and brick buttresses, and on the south side the structure continued as a brickwork viaduct. In the 1920 overhead electrical masts were added as part of the electrification of the line, and the original timber deck was replaced with rail and concrete slabs.

The bridge was last used in 1987 with the conversion of the St Kilda and Port Melbourne railway lines to light rail. Some proposals were made for the light rail to continue over the Sandridge Bridge into Flinders Street station, but instead they were diverted from the railway reserve at Clarendon Street and sent into the city via Spencer Street. The light rail operates today as the route 96 tram to St Kilda, and route 109 tram to Port Melbourne.

The viaduct over Queensbridge Street and the embankment across the South Bank were listed by the National Trust and were noted as being historically significant, but were still removed. Only the segment over the river itself was retained, with a number of different redevelopment plans proposed during the 1990s.

In 2001 the State Government held an expressions of interest process for refurbishment of the bridge, seeking commercial ventures, but the process was not successful and in 2003 Melbourne City Council and the Department of Sustainability and Environment took over. They committed $15.5 million to restore the bridge, create a plaza on the Southbank side and make connections to walkways on the Yarra north bank. In 2005 it was announced that artist Nadim Karam had been commissioned to create ten abstract sculptures in a piece titled The Travellers, which represents the different types of immigrants who traditionally arrived by train over the bridge from Station Pier. Nine of the sculptures move across the bridge in a 15-minute sequence, moving on bogies running between the two bridge spans.

The bridge was unveiled three days before the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, at a final cost of $18.5 million. It included a new pedestrian and cycle path and public space, connecting a new Queensbridge Square at Southbank to Flinders Walk on the north bank. However, only the eastern half of the bridge was reopened, the western half being stabilised and fenced off from public access.

Taken in: Australia / Victoria / Southbank (show map)

Taken on: March 1, 2023

Tags:

Australia

CBD

Melbourne

Pedestrian Bridge

Sandridge Bridge

Sony RX100 V

Yarra River

bridge « less

Sets appears in: • Architecture • Bridges

Groups appears in: • Bridges • City more » • Bridges in Australia • Footbridges of the World • Lovely City! • Cityscape and urban scenery • City, Urban & Engineering Images « less

Camera: Sony DSC-RX100M5A, f/5.6, 1/320 sec, 15.7mm, ISO 125 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Sony DSC-RX100M5A
Lens:	24-70mm F1.8-2.8
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/320)
Focal Length:	15.7mm
ISO:	125
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 12.2 (Windows)
Show full info

Stats: 505 views