Church Street Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Church Street Bridge is a historic road bridge over the Yarra River
and the Monash Freeway
in Melbourne
, Victoria
, Australia
. It links Church Street in Richmond
on the north bank with Chapel Street
in Prahran
on the south.
built in 1857. Purchased from the British government at the end of the Crimean War
, this bridge had a 210 feet (64 m) span with side trusses being solid riveted iron 10 feet (3 m) high, designed
to prevent Russian snipers from killing British troops. The bridge was dismantled and reconstructed with stone buttresses on the site.
The current bridge was designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear and opened in 1923, having three reinforced concrete
arches supported by piled foundation
s. As originally constructed all three spans crossed the river, but with the construction of the South Eastern Arterial
in the 1960s, the river was diverted away from under the northern span, and the four lane road was built there instead. This method of construction reduced the clearance available to traffic on the road underneath, and in the 1990s in conjunction with the CityLink
project the arch elements of this span were removed, and replaced by new elements 0.6 m higher at the crown and 1.2 m higher at either end. Specialised monitoring was required during the process to manage the changing loads on the elements of the bridge.
In January 2007 rehabilitation work was carried out by VicRoads
, including waterproofing the concrete deck, replacing the tram tracks, and general resurfacing. Stage two commenced in April 2007 and is due for completion in July 2008, and involved replacement of balustrades and new traffic barriers at the kerbs. The first stage of works had required a total road and tramway closure.
The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
and is included a Heritage Overlay
.
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
and the Monash Freeway
Monash Freeway
Monash Freeway is an urban freeway in Victoria, Australia linking Melbourne's CBD to its southeastern suburbs and the Gippsland region. The entire stretch of the Monash Freeway bears the designation...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It links Church Street in Richmond
Richmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
on the north bank with Chapel Street
Chapel Street, Melbourne
Chapel Street is a shopping, dining and entertainment precinct in Melbourne, Australia. It has a myriad shops ranging from exclusive upmarket fashion designers at the South Yarra end to old fashion pawnbrokers towards Windsor.-Geography:...
in Prahran
Prahran, Victoria
Prahran , also known colloquially as "Pran", is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stonnington. At the 2006 Census, Prahran had a population of 10,651. It is a part of Melbourne with...
on the south.
History
The first bridge on the site was an iron girder bridgeGirder bridge
A girder bridge, in general, is a bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers. In turn, a bridge deck is built on top of the girders in order to carry traffic. There are several different subtypes of girder bridges:...
built in 1857. Purchased from the British government at the end of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, this bridge had a 210 feet (64 m) span with side trusses being solid riveted iron 10 feet (3 m) high, designed
to prevent Russian snipers from killing British troops. The bridge was dismantled and reconstructed with stone buttresses on the site.
The current bridge was designed by Harold Desbrowe Annear and opened in 1923, having three reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
arches supported by piled foundation
Deep foundation
A deep foundation is a type of foundation distinguished from shallow foundations by the depth they are embedded into the ground. There are many reasons a geotechnical engineer would recommend a deep foundation over a shallow foundation, but some of the common reasons are very large design loads, a...
s. As originally constructed all three spans crossed the river, but with the construction of the South Eastern Arterial
Monash Freeway
Monash Freeway is an urban freeway in Victoria, Australia linking Melbourne's CBD to its southeastern suburbs and the Gippsland region. The entire stretch of the Monash Freeway bears the designation...
in the 1960s, the river was diverted away from under the northern span, and the four lane road was built there instead. This method of construction reduced the clearance available to traffic on the road underneath, and in the 1990s in conjunction with the CityLink
CityLink
CityLink is a system of tolled urban Highways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new Toll roads—labelled the Western and Southern Links—directly linking a number of existing freeways to...
project the arch elements of this span were removed, and replaced by new elements 0.6 m higher at the crown and 1.2 m higher at either end. Specialised monitoring was required during the process to manage the changing loads on the elements of the bridge.
In January 2007 rehabilitation work was carried out by VicRoads
VicRoads
VicRoads or the Roads Corporation of Victoria is a statutory corporation which is the state road and traffic authority in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is responsible for maintenance and construction of the state arterial road network, as well as driver licensing and vehicle registration. ...
, including waterproofing the concrete deck, replacing the tram tracks, and general resurfacing. Stage two commenced in April 2007 and is due for completion in July 2008, and involved replacement of balustrades and new traffic barriers at the kerbs. The first stage of works had required a total road and tramway closure.
The site is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
and is included a Heritage Overlay
Heritage Overlay
A Heritage Overlay or HO is one of a number of planning scheme overlays contained in the Victorian Planning Provisions, for use in planning schemes in Victoria, Australia...
.