Hamish Hay Bridge
| Hamish Hay Bridge | |
|---|---|
The bridge in 2013
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| Coordinates | 43°31′40″S 172°38′07″E / 43.527778°S 172.635278°ECoordinates: 43°31′40″S 172°38′07″E / 43.527778°S 172.635278°E |
| Carries | pedestrians, cyclists |
| Crosses | Avon River |
| Locale | Victoria Square, Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Other name(s) |
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| Characteristics | |
| Design | cast iron girders |
| Material | steel, concrete deck |
| Width | 20.1 m |
| No. of spans | 1 |
| History | |
| Designer |
Charles Fox (London) James Wylde (Christchurch) |
| Constructed by | Edward George Wright |
| Opened | 28 September 1864 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | none |
| Designated | 2 April 2004 |
| Reference no. | 1832 |
Victoria Square with surrounding city blocks
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Hamish Hay Bridge (also known as Victoria Street Bridge; previously Victoria Bridge and initially variably Papanui Bridge and Market Place Bridge) is located in Victoria Square, Christchurch, New Zealand. Built in 1864, it was renamed in 1989 for Sir Hamish Hay, Mayor of Christchurch; a commemorative bronze plaque is affixed to the bridge's guard rail in the middle of the structure to honor Hay's services. The bridge, the oldest heritage feature in the square, is also the country's oldest cast iron and stone bridge. It survived the 2011 earthquake undamaged. Architectural features include the bridge arch and the balustrade's neo-gothic ornamentation. The bridge is registered as a Category II heritage structure with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
Christchurch was surveyed in 1850 with a regular grid layout, interrupted by the Avon River and two diagonal roads making connections to the port in Lyttelton and to the northern hinterland. The northern diagonal crosses the Avon in an area that was set aside as a market square. A simple bridge was built to cross the river in March 1852 in the location of the current bridge. The road that the bridge served was originally called Whately Road, named after the Archbishop of Dublin, Richard Whately, who was a member of the Canterbury Association. The road name changed the Victoria Street, and the name of the market square changed to Victoria Square.
After settlement of Christchurch having started in December 1850, the Society of Land Purchasers under the chairmanship of Guise Brittan arranged for a first bridge to be erected in the market square, and this was done in March 1852. The bridge gave access from Christchurch to the 36 hectares (89 acres) Papanui Bush, some 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) away and at the time the end of the road. Papanui Bush was one of only two forests on the Canterbury Plains and thus an important source of building material and firewood; the bridge thus became known as the Papanui Bridge. In 1852, the price of firewood in Christchurch was 21s to 24s depending on quality, but only 7s in Papanui Bush, with the balance the cost of carting, which demonstrates the importance of making transport easier. The bridge was also referred to as the Market Place Bridge, as it was the centrally located in the square that was initially known as Market Place.
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