Victoria Bridge Abutment is a heritage-listed road bridge at 74 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Alfred Barton Brady and built in 1896 by Arthur Midson. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992.
The Victoria Bridge Abutment stands on the southern side of the Brisbane River downstream of the existing Victoria bridge. It consists of a large stone podium with rock-faced ashlar facing. The upriver side is faced with polygonal masonry, indicating that it is newer stonework. The podium is capped with the downstream arch of the southern abutment, together with a section of roadway which retains the tracks of the tramway.
The entry to each pedestrian footway was defined with a rusticated arch of sawn stone which combines both Classical and Egyptian vocabularies. The pylons supporting the arch are tapered towards the base of the arch from which they continue as attached pilasters with parallel sides. The arch springs from a cornice at the top of the tapered portion of the supporting pylons. Above the arch a cornice defines the base of a Doric frieze which continues around the tops of the attached pilasters. The entablature is topped with another cornice. Either side of the arch a granite tablet is applied which supports ornate metal brackets which held gas lamps to illuminate the entry to the bridge. A similar tablet is located on the sides of the structure at the same level. The three lowest courses have been treated with a "rockfaced" surface. The outer pylon of the arch is continued to the base of the abutment as a low profile pilaster with a rock-faced surface.
At the centre of the arch, galvanised piping projects and a section hangs parallel with the face of the structure. A marble tablet is applied to the landward side of the up-river pylon below the lowest cornice, commemorating Hector Vasyli. The tablet is in the form of an aedicule in the Corinthian style. The inscription on the entablature reads:"EVERY LAND IS HIS NATIVE LAND TO A BRAVE MAN"
The Corinthian columns frame a tondo beneath which the inscription continues. The tondo contains a bronze relief portrait of the boy facing outward. Below this lies the body of the inscription. The inscription reads:
NEAR THIS SPOT AS THE RESULT OF A LAMENTABLE ACCIDENT, WHILST WELCOMING RETURNED SOLDIERS
HECTOR VASYLI
WAS KILLED 9TH JUNE 1918
AGED 11 YEARS.
DURING HIS BRIEF SOJOURN ON EARTH, HE DEVOTED MUCH OF HIS TIME TO PATRIOTIC WORK FOR AUSTRALIAN SOLDIERS DURING THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR.
IN HIS VEINS RAN THE HEROIC BLOOD OF GREECE, AND IN THE BREAST OF A CHILD HE CARRIED THE HEART OF A MAN.
THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY THE RETURNED SAILORS, AND SOLDIERS IMPERIAL LEAGUE, HELLENIC (GREEK) ASSOCIATION AND CITIZENS OF BRISBANE
The stylobate is supported on two brackets of marble.
Below the tablet two rows of metal hooks are attached to the stonework. These may be intended for the support of commemorative wreaths relating to the Anzac Day memorial services. Off centre from the entrance to the arch, a metal bollard remains in situ.
Upriver from the arch a section of roadway remains, bearing sections of tramline. Between the two sets of tracks the remains of a low concrete platform with a rounded end has been left in situ. The surface to the landward side of this platform retains painted chevron markings. On the downriver side a low stone wall curves out, terminating in a low pilaster which defines the entry point for the bridge. The area is paved in bitumen. Metal brackets are attached to the stonework of the pylons, the centre of the arch and on the top of the outer pilaster; fittings for a gas illumination. Curved stone kerbing defines the footpath from the road way. The white marble memorial tablet is situated on the landward side of the up-river pylon of the arch.
The abutment is isolated from its original context as the approach road and bridge decking are no longer in place. Additional stabilising footings and retaining works have been constructed to maintain the abutment in its present location. All the stonework below the road level is done in rock-cut masonry. Other additions include a white safety railing around the perimeter which matches the railing of the neighbouring bridge, and a flight of metal and concrete stairs to permit access to the platform of the abutment. Two bronze plaques have been applied to the stonework, one at each landing of the stairway. The inscriptions show a number of inaccuracies, however are transcribed below:
Plaque one - ground level "This plaque marks the site of the southern approach to the second Victoria Bridge, completed in 1897 at a cost of £125,000 to replace the bridge destroyed by floods in 1896. When the bridge was demolished in 1969, following the completion of the present bridge, this section was retained as a memorial to the endeavour of successive generations of Brisbane's citizens to provide swift means of cross-river transport."
Plaque two - first landing "This stonework is all that remains of the first permanent bridge to span the Brisbane River. A temporary wooden structure was erected in 1865 as staging for the permanent bridge, but was closed to traffic from Nov 1897 as a result of flood damage. On the 15th June 1874 the new bridge was opened and named Victoria Bridge. The northern section of the Victoria Bridge collapsed on 6 February 1893 under pressure from debris during the disastrous flood of that year."
Date retrieved: 17 January 2018 17:43 UTC
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