HUGE BRIDGE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4833, 14 April 1936, Page 7

HUGE BRIDGE

SPAN OF 1080 FEET THIRD LONGEST IN THE WORLD With the opening of the Birchenough Bridge in the wilds of Southern Rhodesia the British Empire becomes the proud possessor of two of the three longest single-span, bridges in .the world. It is 1080 feet, the two bridges with longer spans being the Bayonne Bridge, south of New York, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which has a span of 1680 feet. The Birchenough Bridge is the first long-span bridge in the Empire to be made with high-tension steel, which is much stronger than the silicon steel used in the Sydney Bridge. It is an interesting fact that the actual wire ropes used by the builders (Dorman Long) in supporting the huge cantilevers at Sydney were used by them for the same purpose in the construction of this bridge, and now support its roadway. The River Sabi flows 280 feet below the centre of the arch, and it is to enable tourists to reach the beautiful mountains which feed it, as well as to link the markets of the east and west of the Colony, that the Beit Trust have given this bridge to the inhabitants. It is a triumph of engineering, having been completed in 20 months in spite of the fact that the nearest town, Victoria, is 100 miles away.