The Queen's Bridge is a historic road bridge over the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

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 ...

. The bridge was built in 1889 and has five wrought iron plate girder spans, and is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

. The bridge was built by contractor David Munro, and replaced a timber footbridge built in 1860. The bridge is a very flat

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

, and has five spans constructed of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

plate girder A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders. Overview In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), ...

s. The bridge rests on iron cylinders filled with concrete, in groups of eight, with arched bracing between. It connects

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

and William Street on the north bank to Queensbridge Street to the south. Trams on route 58 also cross the bridge. In 1910,

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

leapt from the bridge while shackled and escaped in less than one minute.

Yarra Falls

Queens Bridge marks the location of the

Yarra Falls Yarra Falls was a waterfall on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia that was demolished in 1883 through the use of dynamite in order to prevent a repeat of the floods of 1863 and 1878. It formed a low barrier, separating the brackish tidal wat ...

, a waterfall that had existed on the Yarra River. The Aboriginal clans of

Woiwurrung The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin people, Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria (Austral ...

and

Boon wurrung The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

called the falls ''Yarra Yarra'' and used it as a crossing point between their lands. In June 1835

John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne. Born and raised in the then-British colony of New South Wales, Batman settled in Van Die ...

arrived at Yarra Falls and recognised the surrounding land as a good site to build a village. The site became the landing spot for ships in Melbourne, because the falls had prevented ships from travelling further upstream, which influenced the overall design of Melbourne. In 1839 a dam was built upon the falls using convict labour in order to secure the fresh water supply for the growing city, but did not last long, nor did its replacement. In 1845 a bridge was built at the site by a private company, but this was replaced by a government funded Prince's Bridge in 1850, which was to stand until the demolition of the Falls.

References

{{Yarra River Crossings Bridges in Melbourne Plate girder bridges Arch bridges in Australia Bridges over the Yarra River Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne 1889 establishments in Australia Bridges completed in 1889 Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Transport in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Southbank, Victoria