The Bodie Creek Suspension Bridge in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

is one of the southernmost

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

s in the world. It was built in 1925, from a kit fabricated in England by David Rowell & Co., in order to shorten the distance sheep needed to be driven from southern

Lafonia Lafonia is a peninsula forming the southern part of East Falkland, the largest of the Falkland Islands. Geography and geology Shaped like the letter "E", it is joined to the northern part of the island by an isthmus that is almost wide. Were ...

to the shearing sheds in

Goose Green Goose Green is a settlement in Lafonia on East Falkland in the Falkland Islands. It lies on Choiseul Sound, on the east side of the island's central isthmus, south-southwest of Darwin. With a population of about 40, it is the third-largest s ...

Background

A bridge across

Bodie Creek Bodie Creek ( es, Ría Bodie), also called Bodie Inlet, is the estuary of Orqueta Creek and other small streams (such as the Findlay estuary) into Choiseul Sound, located south of the settlement of Goose Green in Lafonia, in the centre of East Fal ...

was first proposed in 1922 as part of an effort to centralise the

Falkland Islands Company The Falkland Islands Company Ltd is a diversified goods and services company owned by FIH Group. Known locally as FIC, it was founded in 1851 and was granted a royal charter to trade in 1852 by Queen Victoria. It was originally founded by Samuel ...

(FIC) Lafonia sheep farming operations at Goose Green which consolidated the shearing of flocks from nearby farms including Darwin and Walker Creek. A bridge was required to allow the sheep raised at Walker Creek to be herded to Goose Green, avoiding a lengthy and arduous detour around Bodie Creek, an inlet of

Choiseul Sound Choiseul Sound is a stretch of sea in the Falkland Islands. It runs parallel to Eagle Passage and is between Lafonia and the north of East Falkland. Lively Island is in its mouth. At its entrance, on the northern shore, is the Bertha's Beach ...

. The FIC approved the proposals at a meeting on 31 March 1924.

Construction

The bridge was purchased by the FIC for £2,281 () from David Rowell & Co, London. The structure was shipped, in kit form, to the islands aboard the

Pacific Steam Navigation Company The Pacific Steam Navigation Company ( es, Compañía de Vapores del Pacífico, links=no) was a British commercial shipping company that operated along the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffi ...

's vessel SS ''Ballena''. The bridge was erected by engineer Charles P. Peters assisted by a stone mason/foreman and a gang of around 14

navvies Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and ea ...

. Construction of the steel structure began in October 1924 and was complete by July 1925. The approach roads were complete by October 1925, allowing the bridge to open in time for the start of the sheep shearing season. The structure was inspected by a party of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during the 1982

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

Structure today

The bridge spans . Its principal parts are an roadway (deck) suspended from four primary thick steel cables supported by two high towers at the ends of the span. It is deteriorating and in need of restoration. The Falklands Island Museum and National Trust has raised concerns that the structure may be lost. The bridge can be visited by tourists and lies around a fifteen-minute drive south of Goose Green. The bridge closed to traffic in 1997. A travel guide describes it as magnificent. It is one of the few engineered bridges in the Falklands, where fords and improvised structures are more common. The structure is one of the southernmost suspension bridges. It was chosen for the 37-

pence A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

stamp of the October 2000 "Bridges of the Falkland Islands" local set.

References

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External links

Bodie Creek (with pictures)Entry at Bridgemeister.com
Suspension bridges in the Falkland Islands East Falkland Bridges completed in 1925