The Queen's Bridge is a historic road bridge over the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower st ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The bridge was opened in 1889, and consists of five wrought iron plate girder spans. It is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

. The bridge was constructed by contractor David Munro and replaced a timber bridge built in 1860. The bridge is a very flat

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

, and has five spans constructed of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

plate girders. The bridge rests on iron cylinders in groups of eight, filled with concrete, with arched bracing between. It connects Market Street and William Street on the north bank to Queensbridge Street to the south. Trams on route 58 also cross the bridge. In 1910,

Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

leapt from the bridge while shackled, and escaped in less than a minute.

Yarra Falls

Queens Bridge is situated at the location of the

Yarra Falls Yarra Falls was a waterfall on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia that was demolished in 1883 through the use of dynamite in order to prevent a repeat of the floods of 1863 and 1878. It formed a low barrier, separating the brackish tidal wat ...

, a waterfall that had existed on the Yarra River. The Aboriginal clans of

Woiwurrung The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi-wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, and Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria ex ...

and

Boon wurrung The Boonwurrung, also spelt Bunurong or Bun wurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory ...

called the falls "Yarro Yarro," which means "it flows" or "ever-flowing" and used it as a crossing point between their lands. In June 1835,

John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian Pastoral farming, grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, who had a prominent role in the foundation of Melbourne, founding of Melbourne. He also was involved in many attacks against Indigen ...

arrived at Yarra Falls and recognised the surrounding land as a good site to build a village. The site became the landing spot for ships in Melbourne, because the falls had prevented ships from travelling further upstream, which influenced the overall design of Melbourne. In 1839, a dam was built on the falls, using convict labour, in order to secure the fresh water supply for the growing city. However, it did not last long, nor did its replacement. In 1845, a bridge was built at the site by a private company, but that was replaced by a government-funded Prince's Bridge in 1850, which stood until the removal of the Falls.

References

External links

* {{Yarra River Crossings Bridges in Melbourne Plate girder bridges Arch bridges in Australia Bridges over the Yarra River Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne 1889 establishments in Australia Bridges completed in 1889 Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Transport in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Southbank, Victoria