Birchenough Bridge is the name for both a bridge across the Save River (pronounced Sa've) and a village next to the bridge. Birchenough Bridge is called after Sir

Henry Birchenough Sir John Henry Birchenough, 1st Baronet, (7 March 1853 – 12 May 1937) was an English businessman and public servant. Early life and education Birchenough was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, the second son of John Birchenough, a silk manufac ...

. Birchenough Bridge is located 62 km from Chipinge in the

Manicaland Manicaland is a Provinces of Zimbabwe, province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2012 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census. After Harare and Bulawa ...

province of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

linking Chipinge with

Buhera Buhera is a village in Zimbabwe. Location Buhera District is in Manicaland Province, in eastern Zimbabwe. It is about , by road, southwest of Mutare, the location of the provincial headquarters. This location is approximately , southeast of ...

History

The bridge was funded at a cost of £145 000.00 and planned by the Beit Trust, a foundation chaired at the time by Sir

whose ashes are buried beneath the structure of the bridge.Rhodesian Heritage
/ref> Ralph Freeman, the bridge's designer, was also the structural designer on the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

and consequently the two bridges bear a close resemblance, although Birchenough is only two-thirds as long as the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n bridge. It was built by

Dorman Long Dorman Long & Co was a UK steel producer, later diversifying into bridge building. It was once listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded by Arthur Dorman and Albert de Lande Long when they acquired ''West Marsh ...

and completed in 1935. At a length of 1,080 feet (329 m) it was the third longest single-arch suspension bridge in the world at the time. In the 1970s a 40-tonne load limit was imposed on the bridge but in 1984 the bridge was widened (roadway: 7.2 m to 10 m wide) and strengthened as part of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

's Highway Project One. The village which sprang up next to the bridge has become the centre of a small-scale farming area. The bridge is widely considered by Zimbabweans as being one of the country's finest pieces of engineering, and as such, it appears on the twenty-cent coin. The Zimbabwe Department of Roads has reduced its load capacity not to allow any vehicle weighing more than 25 tonnes. This had reduced business activities in the areas nearby since heavy vehicle trucks will not be allowed to cross the bridge.

References

External links

Pictures of Birchenough Bridge, Zimbabwe: Virtual Tour
* Description of the design and construction of the Birchenough Bridge {{coord, 19, 57, 47, S, 32, 20, 35, E, display=title Bridges completed in 1935 Bridges in Zimbabwe Buhera District Buildings and structures in Manicaland Province Populated places in Manicaland Province Save River (Africa) Through arch bridges