Editing Victoria Bridge, Brisbane (section)

== 1874 Victoria Bridge ==
[[File:BrisbaneHorseTramVictoriaBridge1890.jpg|thumb|Horse tram at the northern end of the first permanent Victoria Bridge, c. 1890]]
Following resolution of the issue of the debt owed to the liquidators of the Bank Of Queensland<ref name=":0" /> in 1871, an English company, Peto, Brassey and Co, agreed to complete the bridge.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="moam" /> The new crossing was opened on 15 June 1874<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1384537 |title=The Opening of the Bridge. |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |date=16 June 1874 |access-date=7 October 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303235652/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1384537 |url-status=live }}</ref> by the [[Governor of Queensland]], [[George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby]] who gave it the name "Victoria Bridge",<ref name=":1" /> and was an iron structure and a [[toll bridge]].<ref name="bhnb">{{cite book |title=Brisbane's historic North Bank 1825–2005 |last=Hadwen |first=Ian |author2=Janet Hogan |author3=Carolyn Nolan  |year=2005 |publisher=Royal Historical Society of Queensland |location=Brisbane |isbn=0-9757615-0-1 |pages=62–65 }}</ref> The bridge was paid for by significant council borrowings that were to be recouped by tolls.<ref name="shap">{{cite book |title=Shaping a city |last=Cole |first=John R. |year=1984 |publisher=William Brooks Queensland |location=[[Albion, Queensland|Albion]], Queensland |isbn=0-85568-619-7 |pages=19 }}</ref> However a lack of revenue and widespread community objections to the tolls forced its transfer to the Colonial Government.<ref name="shap" /> The tolls were abolished at this time.<ref name="moam" /> The bridge included a [[Swing bridge|turning span]] to allow tall-masted river traffic to pass upstream.<ref name="b150s" />  A condition of the original Bridge Act was that the bridge  "would not obstruct the navigation of the river Brisbane by sea-going vessels".<ref name=":0" /> Over time, the swing was little used and subsequently water and gas pipes were laid across it.<ref name=":0" /> After the Council lost a court action in 1885 brought by a ship owner when it refused to operate the swing, the Government swiftly passed legislation fixing the bridge.<ref>{{cite news|date=26 September 1885|title=QUEENSLAND PARLIAMENT|volume=XXVI|page=4|newspaper=[[Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser]]|issue=3636|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130396235|access-date=15 February 2021|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The next year, tram-lines were laid along the bridge.<ref name="lhbris">{{cite book |title=Living History of Brisbane |last=Hogan |first=Janet |year=1982 |publisher=Boolarong Publications |location=Spring Hill, Queensland |isbn=0-908175-41-8 |pages=45, 77, 124 }}</ref> It carried a {{convert|6|in|m|abbr=on}} and a {{convert|9|in|m|abbr=on}} diameter pipe which supplied mains water to [[South Brisbane, Queensland|South Brisbane]].<ref name="wpi">{{cite journal |journal=Brisbane:Water, Power and Industry Paper No. 20 |editor=Carolyn Fitz-Gerald |title=Floods, water quality and river crossings, Mount Crosby 1890–1931 |last=Oliver |first=Bill |year=2008 |publisher=Brisbane History Group |location=Kelvin Grove, Queensland |isbn=978-0-9751793-3-8 |pages=31 }}</ref> This bridge was partially washed away in the [[1893 Brisbane flood]].<ref name="bhnb" /><ref name="thenandnow">{{cite book |title=Brisbane Then and Now |last=Gregory |first=Helen |year=2007 |publisher=Salamander Books |location=Wingfield, South Australia |isbn=978-1-74173-011-1 |pages=8–9 }}</ref> 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|capsize of the ferry ‘’Pearl’’]] disaster in 1896 with the loss of more than 40 lives. A temporary wooden structure was built covering the collapsed section of the old bridge while the new bridge was being built.<ref>{{cite news|date=5 September 1893|title=VICTORIA BRIDGE.|volume=XXXV|page=5|newspaper=[[Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser]]|issue=5020|location=Queensland, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123350840|access-date=15 February 2021|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

{{Clear|left}}