Victoria Bridge is a single track

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

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 ...

located in Karai,

Kuala Kangsar District The Kuala Kangsar District (Perak Malay: ''Kole Kangso'') is a district in Perak, Malaysia. Kuala Kangsar shares its borders with Larut, Matang and Selama at the west, Hulu Perak at the north, Gua Musang of Kelantan at the east, Kinta at the sou ...

Perak Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is one of the oldest railway bridges in the country, although it is no longer in use and has been converted into a tourist attraction.

Etymology

Victoria Bridge was 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 ...

, who ruled the United Kingdom from 1837-1901.

History

Victoria Bridge was constructed between December 1897 and March 1900 by the Perak Government Railway as a crossing over the

Perak River The Perak River (; ) is the second longest river in Peninsular Malaysia after Pahang River in Pahang, Malaysia. A number of towns are on the banks of the river including the royal town of Kuala Kangsar. Most of the settlements in what is today ...

to serve the local

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

industry. It cost $300,000 and was considered the largest railway project even carried out in Malaya at the time. The bridge was officially opened by the late Almarhum DYMM Sultan Idris Murshidul Adzam Shah I, the Sultan of Perak at that time, in a ceremony also attended by Sir Frank Swettenham, the first

resident general A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...

of the

Federated Malay States The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...

. Spanning the Perak River, the bridge was linked to a railway line to Sungai Siput and Kuala Kangsar and served to transport natural resources from Perai in the north to Singapore in the south for export. During the

Japanese occupation of Malaya Malaya, then under British administration,, was gradually occupied by Japanese forces between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 15 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allie ...

in 1941, the

British army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

attempted to impede the Japanese invasion southward by partly destroying the bridge. It was repaired after the end of the war. Barracks and additional security features were added during the period of

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

. Starting in 1992, Victoria Bridge was managed by Railway Assets Corporation. The Railway Assets Corporation (RAC) is a federal statutory body under the Ministry of Transport. It was established under the Railways Act 1991 (Act 463) through Government Gazette No.16 Volume 36 on July 30, 1992. The Victoria Bridge remained in use until 2002, when a wider concrete

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

built parallel to the old bridge was completed to take over the role of handling rail traffic. The new bridge is significantly wider, with room to support a second track, but in its early life it was only required to handle a single track until double tracking and electrification was conducted between the

Ipoh Ipoh (, ) is the capital city of the Malaysian States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Perak. Located on the Kinta River, it is nearly north of Kuala Lumpur and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town in neighbouring Penang ...

- Padang Besar line during the late-2000s and early-2010s.

Current state

While the old Victoria Bridge is closed to rail traffic, its adjoining footbridge is still publicly open to motorcycles and pedestrians. Attempts have been made to retain the structure, with occasional maintenance having been conducted on it. To improve safety, especially for motorcyclists, the bridge and the surrounding areas were illuminated with lights, while fences or safety nets have been installed on the bridge itself. The Victoria Bridge has become a minor tourist attraction, with signage set up to inform visitors about its history. It is a popular spot for photoshoots. In 2016, the bridge was gazetted as a national heritage site.

Gallery

vicbridge.jpg, View of bridge vicbridgerail.jpg, Rails vicbridgesign.jpg, Sign

References

External links