Engineering Heritage Marker - Hindmarsh Bridge Print Page

The Engineering Heritage Marker recognises the Hindmarsh Bridge as a site of engineering historical significance.

The Hindmarsh Bridge was an important river crossing connecting the city of Adelaide to its port In the early days of the Colony. In April 1878, a deputation from the Hindmarsh Council called upon the Commissioner of Public Works who “promised to obtain a report on the matter, and would urge upon his colleagues to place a line on the Estimates for a substantial structure”. Plans for a bridge, dated June 1878, were drawn but were then “abandoned by order of the Engineer in Chief”. New plans were drawn early in 1879 and tenders were called for a wrought iron girder bridge with masonry abutments. Tenderers were asked to specify if the ironwork was to be made in the Colony. 

The bridge was formally opened on Saturday 14 August 1880 by the Commissioner of Public Works, George Hawker, and named the “Hindmarsh Bridge” – a point acknowledged by the Mayor of Hindmarsh, Josiah Mitton. The old bridge had been called the Thebarton Bridge. That was a misnomer, and he was glad that when the matter was pointed out to the Commissioner by the town council he at once saw the reasonableness of naming the new structure the Hindmarsh Bridge. 

The first bridge was often the only one standing after floods damaged other bridges in the city. Successive structures show a developing construction capacity and use of engineering materials – timber, iron, then concrete and steel.  The bridge was demolished in December 1995. 

The Institution of Engineers Australia, through its Heritage Committees, established the Australian Historic Engineering Plaquing Program to acknowledge past engineering achievements and to draw public attention to the significant contributions they have made to society. The Plaquing Program is a means of bringing public recognition to significant historic engineering works and the engineers who created them. The Program is intended to contribute to the conservation of Australian engineering heritage.

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