Northbank Heritage Trail

STOP 12
Spencer Street Bridge

Location: Spencer Street Bridge

In the nineteenth century, as commercial demands changed and the population dispersed, demands for bridges increased. Plans for a bridge at Spencer Street first appeared in 1860 but from 1884 until 1929, a chain-driven steam ferry transported passengers and vehicles across the river. The ferry’s coal-driven steam engine drove a capstan secured on each bank that pulled the chain.

Built in 1930, Spencer Street Bridge is an example of inter-war construction and was primarily designed for tram and vehicle use. It is of technical significance as the earliest known variable depth steel plate girder bridge in Victoria. It is most notable from the maritime heritage perspective in that the bridge seriously and adversely impeded the passage of trading vessels and conduct of maritime trade operations upstream on the Birrarung/Yarra. Consequently, all the industries associated with shipping and trade shifted downstream over time.

The bluestone remnant structures which can be seen at the river near the bridge are all that remain of the Spencer Street Power Station. Built by the City of Melbourne in 1894, and located strategically between Victoria Dock (now Docklands Precinct) and the Birrarung/Yarra, was the critically important and now demolished Spencer Street Power Station. Inextricably linked to the port and waterways, the station literally ‘powered’ Melbourne’s prosperity. Originally coal-fired and later oil-fired to supply electricity to the city, the power station provided power for industry, and the city’s growing needs, such as street lighting. The coal, which was brought in from Newcastle NSW, also powered steam ships and wharf cranes.

By the mid-1920s the growth of the port and the extraordinary evolution in ship construction meant that no matter how much work was done on the Birrarung/Yarra and along the north and south banks it was never going to support the requirements of contemporary ships, most of which had already moved into the deeper Victoria Dock to the west of the CBD by the end of the nineteenth century.

When the Spencer Street Bridge was completed in 1930 it offered better road and tram access from the station and CBD to Melbourne’s south bank and southern suburbs but put an end to ships accessing the river to the Queen Street Bridge. The city was effectively cut off from the world of shipping for the first time since the Enterprize was hauled up river and moored at the end of what became William Street trade – the very basis of Victoria’s prosperity.

During the construction of Spencer Street Bridge, the workers reached 20 metres below sea level in search of the bedrock when they discovered a large stump of red gum. This was so big it took three weeks to remove and was later carbon-dated at about 8,800 years old and had lived for over 400 years.

Significantly, there was public concern that with a swing bridge, maritime trade and shipping on the Birrarung/Yarra would potentially regularly disrupt motor traffic and trams accessing the bridge. Trams and traffic triumphed, resulting in the fixed bridge option in 1925. However, even the construction works on the bridge affected commercial operations relating to maritime trade. Ships had to procure berths downstream, but Melbourne had another bridge spanning the river and another tramline link to the area that became Southbank.

FURTHER READING

IMAGE CREDITS
1. Spencer Street Bridge, c.1930, looking east towards Queens and Sandridge bridges, State Library Victoria
2. Spencer Street Bridge, photographer Jeff Malley 2022