Hawthorn Railway Bridge

Hawthorn Railway Bridge
Coordinates	37°49′32.4″S 145°01′03.0″E / 37.825667°S 145.017500°E / -37.825667; 145.017500Coordinates: 37°49′32.4″S 145°01′03.0″E / 37.825667°S 145.017500°E / -37.825667; 145.017500
Carries	Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale Railway Lines
Crosses	Yarra River
Locale	Melbourne, Australia
Characteristics
Design	Steel truss
Total length	100 metres (330 ft)
Width	17 metres (56 ft)
Longest span	40 metres (130 ft)
History
Opened	1861 (1861)

The Hawthorn Railway Bridge is a steel truss bridge that crosses the Yarra River 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Melbourne between Burnley and Hawthorn stations on the Alamein, Belgrave and Lilydale railway lines. It was built for the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company and is the oldest extant railway bridge over the Yarra River.

Completed in 1861, Hawthorn Railway Bridge was designed by Francis Bell. The opening had been delayed due to delays in completion of the bridge with the original iron trusses having been lost at sea. With a span of about 60 metres (200 ft), it was one of the last major items of permanent way to be built on the fledgling railway. The contractors were George Cornwell and Co (not Goldsack & Co as recorded in Leo Harrigan's history of Victorian railways).

Cornwell had previously been involved as contractor in many other major construction works including the Melbourne and Suburban Railway as a whole, as well as Melbourne Grammar School, the Model School, Coppin's Haymarket Theatre, and the Sunbury railway goods shed. Subsequently, he was a contractor on Parliament House, Albert Park Station, Jack's Magazine and the Wallaby Creek water supply.

It is likely that Alexander Kennedy Smith, who had designed the Cremorne Railway Bridge for the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Co, was also involved in the design of the Hawthorn Bridge, but was perhaps out of his depth. He ordered trusses which were inadequate for the job, and had to shorten them, suggesting he did not understand the design.

...
Wikipedia