The Tom 'Diver' Derrick Bridge, commonly referred to as the 'Diver' Derrick Bridge, is an opening single-leaf bascule

road 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 ...

over the

Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

, in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. It opened on 1 August 2008. It is located between Docks 1 and 2 at Port Adelaide and links to Francis Street to the east and Victoria Road to the west. The bridge was the subject of a successful community campaign, spearheaded by the local Semaphore & Port Adelaide RSL Sub-Branch and the '' Portside Messenger'' newspaper, to name it after Port Adelaide

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

hero, Tom 'Diver' Derrick instead of the State Government's unpopular choice of the Power Bridge.

History

For years, debate raged in

about the need for a third crossing over the

, in addition to the existing

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

and Jervois bridges. Ideas for the crossing included an under-river tunnel, closed bridge, causeway and opening bridge. In the early 2000s the

State Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

announced the

Port River Expressway Port River Expressway is a freeway-grade road. The expressway links Port Adelaide and the Lefevre Peninsula across the north-western suburbs of Adelaide to major interstate routes via North-South Motorway. The expressway is grade-separated a ...

project, a highway linking Port Adelaide to Adelaide's northern suburbs. The project included a closed bridge across the Port River. However the Port Adelaide community were concerned a closed bridge would cut-off the Port River and block larger boats from accessing the port's inner harbour. After a strong community campaign, the State Government agreed to build a high-level single-leaf bascule opening bridge.

Abigroup Abigroup was an Australian construction company. History Abigroup was established as Graham Evans & Co in 1957 as a civil engineering company within New South Wales, being renamed Abignano in 1961. In 1981 it was listed on the Australian Securit ...

was awarded the tender to build the bridge in 2005 and construction began the following year. It opened on 1 August 2008.

Name

Diver Derrik and Mary McKillop bridges open in 2010

Both road and rail bridges were originally referred to as the PRExy Bridges, short for Port River Expressway. In 2004, South Australian Premier

Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...

announced the road crossing would be named the 'Power Bridge' after the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

. Later in 2005, it was suggested the bridge be named after Derrick. This idea gradually garnered grassroots support in Port Adelaide. In May 2008, the '' Portside Messenger'' collected a 3,500 signature petition in support of the Derrick name. Port Adelaide-Enfield Council also unanimously supported naming the bridge after Derrick. On 5 June 2008, the State Government announced it had changed its mind and would name the bridge after Derrick.

References

External links

State Government Opening the Port River bridgesYouTube video of Kevin Foley discussing the bridge's name
{{Port Adelaide landmarks, state=collapsed Bascule bridges in Australia Bridges completed in 2008 Buildings and structures in Adelaide Lefevre Peninsula Road bridges in South Australia 2008 establishments in Australia