brisbaneriver

The Victoria Bridge, the Brisbane River’s first road crossing has had a long and interesting history. Since 1865 there have been several versions of the bridge built to connect Brisbane's CBD to South Brisbane. This post will briefly examine the history of each one of those bridges. To help connect the rapidly growing city with the southern suburbs the Brisbane City Council decided in 1861 to announce they intended to build a bridge connecting Queen Street with Melbourne Street. The council held a contest for the design of the bridge and chose to construct a large iron lattice-girder bridge by designers Messrs Robinson and I'Anson. Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of Queensland, laid the foundation stone on 22 August 1864. With a limited budget, the council couldn't afford the cost of the steel required to build Robinson and I'Anson's design and instead chose to build a temporary wooden bridge until funds were available to build the steel bridge. In June 1865, less than a year after the laying of the foundation stone, the bridge was completed and named the Brisbane Bridge. However, one issue the bridge's builders were unaware of was the destructive effect marine borers would have on the wooden piles. On 16 November 1867, the bridge collapsed, caused by a combination of a high tide placing pressure on the weakened wooden piles and a large coach crossing the bridge. In 1871, English company Peto, Brassey, and Co agreed to build a new bridge upgrading the previous wooden design to include concrete pylons, lacework parapet, and a footpath on each side for pedestrians. The bridge was completed in 1874, opened on 15 June by Governor George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, and named 'Victoria Bridge' after Queen Victoria, the monarch at the time. On 5 February 1893, Brisbane recorded a significant rain event with 900mm falling within a day. At 4 am the following day, floodwaters carried a house, livestock, trees, and debris down the Brisbane river from North Quay crashing into the city end of the Victoria Bridge causing a section to collapse. The collapse of the bridge affected the economic development of South Brisbane, larger stores such as Allen & Stark moved their premises to the northside of the city and southern suburbs declined while newer suburbs like Ascot, Hamilton, and Clayfield prospered. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/history-brisbanes-victoria-bridge

Albert Bridge is a heritage-listed railway bridge of steel truss design crossing the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley and built from 1894 to 1895 by John McCormick & Son as a replacement for an earlier bridge lost to flooding in 1893. Both bridges were named in honor of the Prince of Wales, Prince Albert. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. The Albert Bridge links Indooroopilly and Chelmer railway station. The structure consists of two steel spans supported by masonry abutments and a central concrete pier that is encased in an iron caisson.[2] A footway was provided on the upstream side. The first Albert Bridge on the site was completed in July 1876[3] and enabled the Main Line railway from Grandchester to Ipswich to be extended to reach Brisbane itself.[4] In the early days of settlement, the Brisbane River at Indooroopilly provided an obstacle to the construction of a railway between Brisbane and the mining center of Ipswich. At this time, a river boat service linked the two centers. The completion of the first Albert Bridge enabled the Ipswich railway line to open in 1875. The first bridge was destroyed in the 1893 flood.[5] In the meantime, ferries were used to transport people and goods across the busy river. This, however, led to the capsize of the ferry ‘’Pearl’’ disaster in 1896 with the loss of more than 40 lives. The second and current Albert Bridge was built in 1895.[5] It was designed by Henry Charles Stanley, Queensland's Chief Engineer of Railways from 1891 to 1901 and is considered his major work.[2] He designed a "Hogsback" steel truss bridge on masonry piers. In designing the bridge as two long spans with one central pier, he tried to minimize the obstruction to flood waters created by multiple piers, which had been the downfall of the first bridge. The Albert Bridge remains one of Australia's largest truss bridges. At the time of its completion, as a metal truss bridge, it was second only to the first Hawkesbury rail bridge (1889) in span length. The Albert Bridge is still Australia's third longest span metal truss bridge after Brisbane's Story Bridge (1940) (Story Bridge) and the second Hawkesbury rail bridge (1945). Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bridge,_Brisbane

SHIP DETAILS Rig Twin-Screw Turbo-Electric, 4,912 nhp Built 1935 Built In Barrow-in-Furness Tonnage 23,580g 13,159n Built By Vickers-Armstrong Ltd. Dimensions 640.3 x 82.2 x 33.7 Demise Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., reg. London. 1935 Oct 4: Maiden voyage was a cruise. 1935 Nov.: Placed on the London - Australia express service. 1939-45: Troopship. 1948-9: Reconditioned. 1949 Oct.27: Resumed the Australian service via Bombay. 1961: Converted to a one-class ship. Bombay omitted. 1963 June 20: Last voyage to Australia. Sold to John S.Latsis, reg. Piraeus & renamed for Karachi - Mecca pilgrimage service. 1969 May 27: Arrived at shipbreakers at La Spezia, Italy to be scrapped. Source: passengers.history.sa.gov.au/node/936709

Strathmore was the third of the five Strath Sisters and after the three-funneled Strathnaver and Strathaird, with their turbo-electric engines, the single-funneled 'sisters' Strathmore, Stratheden, and Strathallan, reverted to the more traditional geared turbines, which had a lower capital cost. Launched on the 4th April 1935, P&O's directors proudly commissioned a lavish brochure to introduce their fine new passenger liner to the public. Source: www.pandosnco.co.uk/strathmore.html The same source also provides a fantastic gallery of photos depicting the interior of the ship.