Queens Bridge (Perth)

History

For centuries, Perth was the lowest crossing point of the River Tay, with the first bridge having been built before 1209. This is known, as it was swept away by a flood in that year. A series of bridges followed, interspersed by periods of ferries as each bridge was swept away before finally in the 1770s the current Perth Bridge was built.

Queens Bridge

To the south of the old Perth Bridge is the much more modern Queen's Bridge. This was built in 1960 to replace the older Victoria Bridge built in 1900-02. The old bridge was jacked up by 6 feet during construction, so that traffic could continue to cross the river, while the new bridge was built underneath. The bridge was opened by Queen Elizabeth herself, and is a typical 1960's reinforced-concrete structure with two piers.

Today it carries the A93 as South Street across the river, linking with the A989 Perth ring road to the west and the A85 and A94 on the eastern side.

Victoria Bridge

The predecessor to Queen's Bridge was Victoria Bridge, a Steel truss bridge spanning concrete piers. Construction was initially hampered by the owner of the villa on the eastern bank. After many months of failed negotiation, the house was compulsory purchased, or at least that part of it which blocked the bridge's roadway. The result was that the owner left it's remains standing on either side of the road as a mark of his anger!