The Jubilee Bridge (1925–1966) was a bridge across the

Nerang River The Nerang River is a perennial river in South East Queensland, Australia. Its drainage basin, catchment lies within the City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast Local government in Queensland, local government area and covers an area of . The river is app ...

in South East

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The bridge connected the suburbs of

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

to Main Beach on the Gold Coast, providing the first road connection to

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...

. It facilitated the development of the Gold Coast beach suburbs and holiday resorts.

History

In 1887, German immigrant Johann Meyer operated a ferry across the Nerang River. From Southport, travellers would follow the Meyer's Ferry Road (now

Ferry Road Ferry Road is one of the major roads of Edinburgh, Scotland, deriving its name from being the road from Queensferry to Leith. It runs from the eastern end of Davidson's Mains village in the west, to Leith in the east, passing through Drylaw, ...

and Bundall Road) to a spit of land that created a narrow point in the river (). The narrow spit is no longer in existence due to changes in the river and the creation of

Chevron Island Chevron Island is an urban island that lies in the Nerang River and is a neighbourhood within the suburb of Surfers Paradise onn the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. History Chevron Island is a natural island previously known as Goat Islan ...

but was in the vicinity of the Gold Coast Arts Centre. From that point, Meyer's ferry would take the travellers across the river to Meyer's Ferry Road at Elston (or the Main Surf Beach as it was then informally known, now

Cavill Avenue Cavill Avenue is a street and a pedestrian mall in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is in the heart of the Surfers Paradise shopping and entertainment district. It was named in honour of the man credited as the founder of ...

, Surfers Paradise). Although a popular destination, the lack of road access limited the extent of residential and commercial development. In 1925, the Southport Bridge (as it was initially known) was built as a direct extension of Queen Street, Southport () in an approximate east-west alignment connecting to what is now Main Beach Parade, Main Beach (); at that time Main Beach was not developed as it is today. The bridge was wide and built on reinforced concrete piles, mostly sunk down to a solid rock foundation. The superstructure was built from

ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accum ...

and

spotted gum Spotted gum usually refers to the Australian tree species ''Corymbia maculata'' but may also refer to other closely related species within the genus ''Corymbia'' as follows: *'' Corymbia citriodora'' (usually referred to as the lemon-scented gum) *' ...

. The pedestrian crossing was wide and the road crossing was , sufficient for two cars to pass. The bridge rose in the middle to allow small boats to pass under it; a central span could be raised and lowered using a hand winch to allow larger vessels to pass, but the process took 25 minutes. The bridge cost approximately £23,000. The bridge was officially opened for pedestrian traffic on 8 April 1925 by John Appel,

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

for

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

. It could not be opened for vehicular traffic until the road from Main Beach to Burleigh Heads was completed. On 29 August 1925, the Mayor of Southport declared the bridge open for vehicular traffic. On 28 November 1925, the town of Southport was 50 years old. The day was declared a public holiday in Southport, the first of five days of jubilee celebrations. The first event on the day was another official opening of the Southport Bridge, this time by

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

William Lennon William Lennon (8 December 1849 – 5 May 1938) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. He was Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland. Bio ...

who christened the bridge the ''Jubilee Bridge'' in honour of Southport's 50th anniversary by smashing a bottle of Australian champagne against one of the bridge's concrete abutments. In 1933, the lifting span was removed as large vessels no longer used the river. In 1966, the present Gold Coast Bridge, locally known as the

Sundale Bridge The Sundale Bridge is a bridge located in the Gold Coast region of South East, Queensland, Australia. Officially known as the Gold Coast Bridge, but locally referred to as the Sundale Bridge due to its proximity to the site of the former Sunda ...

due to its proximity to the Sundale Shopping Centre, replaced the Jubilee Bridge, which was demolished. The bridge departs from a similar area of Southport but has a more north-south alignment and so reaches Main Beach further south than the Jubilee Bridge.

References

External links

{{GeoGroup Bridges in Queensland Southport, Queensland Main Beach, Queensland 1925 establishments in Australia Bridges completed in 1925