Queen's Bridge is a B+ listed Victorian stone arch

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

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. It opened to traffic in 1843 and is named after

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

Long Bridge

The previous bridge on this site was the Long Bridge, which began construction in 1682, supposedly on the site of an ancient ford. It had 21 arches, with a total span length of and a width of , although its long approach from the east made it almost a mile long. The bridge was rebuilt several times over the years, such as in 1692 when seven arches collapsed when it was rammed by a ship (possibly because it had been weakened in 1689 when the

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's troops transported their cannons over it). By 1830, traffic volumes were increasing and a wider bridge was required, so the intention to build a new bridge was announced. The Long Bridge was not demolished until work on the new bridge began and it is shown on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map. A piece of granite from the Long Bridge is embedded in the pavement at the junction of Castreagh Street and the Albertbridge Road in East Belfast.

Construction

The contract for the construction of the new bridge was given by the Board of Works to Francis Ritchie & Son, with a tendered price of £27,000. The bridge was designed by Thomas Jackson and John Fraser, in their respective roles as county surveyors of Antrim and Down (the river is the county boundary). However, in 1836, Jackson was replaced as Antrim county surveyor by

Charles Lanyon Sir Charles Lanyon Deputy Lieutenant, DL, Justice of the Peace, JP (6 January 1813 – 31 May 1889) was an English Architecture, architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland. Biography Lanyo ...

who supervised the construction with Fraser. By March 1841, preparations were being made for the foundations of the bridge; however, it had not yet been decided whether the bridge would have a higher central arch, to reduce the overall approach gradient, or if it would have a horizontal deck. By July 1842, one of the arches had been keyed in, with the horizontal deck design having been chosen. The bridge opened in January 1843, within budget but slightly late. In 1849, it was named the Queen's Bridge in honour of Queen Victoria's visit to Belfast, during which she officially opened the structure.

Structure

The bridge is a five-arch stone bridge, with each arch having a width of and a rise of . The arches are dressed with Newry granite. The bridge deck originally had a width of . This was widened in 1885 to by the addition of cantilevered segments on either side. 16 ornate gas lamps (now electric) were also added. They carry their maker's name ("Gregg, Sons & Phenix/ Iron Founders/ Belfast") and Belfast Corporation's coat of arms on their pedestals.

References

Bridges in Northern Ireland Buildings and structures in Belfast Bridges completed in 1843 1843 establishments in Ireland Grade B+ listed buildings {{Coord, 54, 35, 58.8, N, 5, 55, 13.93, W, region:GB, display=title

Long Bridge

Construction

Structure

See also

References