The Birkenhead Bridge is a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Australia that crosses the

Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

. In February 1938, the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state government, state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the h ...

awarded a contract to Adelaide Construction to build a bridge across the Port River from

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, with

Perry Engineering Perry Engineering was a major foundry and steel engineering works in the state of South Australia. History Perry Engineering had its origins in 1899 when Samuel Perry purchased from the estate of James Wedlock the Cornwall Foundry on Hindley S ...

contracted to supply the steelwork. The bridge was opened on 14 December 1940 by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Malcolm Barclay-Harvey Sir Charles Malcolm Barclay-Harvey, KCMG (2 March 1890 – 17 November 1969) was a British politician and Governor of South Australia from 12 August 1939 until 26 April 1944. Biography The only child of James Charles Barclay-Harvey, of Dinnet ...

. It was one of only four bascule bridges in the world adapted for use by

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

es. In 2014, two of the four road lanes were converted into pedestrian and bike paths. In 2020, the timber road deck has been replaced with fibre reinforced polymer and the timber footpath with aluminium. The bridge is listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

.Birkenhead Bridge
South Australia Heritage Places

References

External links

{{Port Adelaide landmarks, state=collapsed Bascule bridges in Australia Bridges completed in 1940 Buildings and structures in Adelaide Lefevre Peninsula Road bridges in South Australia South Australian Heritage Register 1940 establishments in Australia