Jervois Bridge, Port Adelaide.

The first Port River bridge opened in 1859 soon fell into disrepair and by 1869 businesses and residents in Port Adelaide and on Lefevre Peninsula began lobbying for a new bridge. By late 1874 the decision was made and construction began in April 1875. The old bridge would remain in use while the new one was built alongside: this at least was the plan, but in fact a temporary bridge needed to be built, as the construction work on the approaches to the bridge made the old bridge unsafe. Once the temporary bridge was in place the old Port Bridge was demolished.

Meanwhile construction of the new or Jervois bridge continued. The bridge had a central swinging section to allow the passage of shipping. This was built in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. On 31 December 1875 a train crossed the bridge to test it and the swinging central section was tested. The Jervois bridge was 693 feet long with a swing section of 163 feet which provided a shipping channel 47 feet wide. The bridge was 56 feet wide with two footpaths, and room for rail and road transport.

The bridge-keeper's gallery straddled the centre of the bridge, providing a clearance of 16 feet for the traffic below; the wooden octagonal control box was added to the gantry in 1880. Subsequent to the bridge being replaced with a fixed bridge in 1966, this gantry was salvaged and after restoration was placed in the carpark at the Port Dock Markets, Nile Street.

The central swinging section posed several problems for the inhabitants of Lefevre Peninsula as the bridge carried the water pipeline and the gas lines. These problems were solved with the building of the Semaphore water tower and a gasometer at Peterhead. By the 1960s this bridge was deteriorating and the decision was made to replace it with a re-inforced, prestressed concrete bridge. As there was now no demand for access by shipping to the Old Port Reach, the new bridge was a fixed bridge, and carried road traffic only. Rail services were carried by a bridge built further up the river in 1916.

Jervois, W. F. D., Sir, 1821-1897

Ritter, Ron Spanning time and tide: the bridges of the Port Adelaide River [Para Vista, S.A.]: R.C. Ritter, 1996

Couper-Smartt, John Port Adelaide: tales from a "commodious harbour" Port Adelaide: Friends of the South Australian Maritime Museum, 2003

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-