Andrew Handyside who made Friargate bridge in Derby made hundreds of different bridges around the world, here is a very special one I have located in Australia.
Glebe Island swing Bridge, Johnstons Bay, Pyrmont, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Located less than two miles from the iconic Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge (another bridge for which steel was supplied for by a Derby company, Messrs Eastwood Swingler in their 1924 contract with Dorman Long of Teeside)
I've been researching the work of Andrew Handyside for 19 years and this is quite an exciting find, Glebe Island swing Bridge has often been considered as to be at the forefront of swing bridge engineering upon its completion in 1903.
This bridge is of particular interest as it’s been derelict and left to rot for decades but people want it restored for the community, like our very own Friargate bridge !
Watch this video I made about the bridge, I have used A.I. to bring to life the construction photographs :
Wouldn’t it be great if both the Glebe Island bridge and Friargate bridge can both be restored for their local communities and maybe twined with each other in celebration of Andrew Handyside, Let’s make this happen.
Swing span under construction in 1902 :
Logistics of getting Glebe island bridge parts from Derby to Australia in 1899 :
Handyside’s Fox Street/Clarke Street yard was specifically built for manufacturing large girders and bridges and a featured dedicated, private railway sidings connected directly to the Midland Railway network.
The heavy iron bridge components would be loaded by steam-powered gantry cranes onto standard-gauge railway flat wagons in Handyside's yard.
These wagons would then travel northwest to the Port of Liverpool, Liverpool was generally favored for bulk industrial iron and shipping lines to Australia.
Upon arriving at the Liverpool docks, the railway wagons would be shunted alongside the deep-water berths and high-capacity dockside steam cranes would lift the heavy iron bridge components directly out of the rail cars and lower them into the cargo holds of a waiting merchant vessel.
The sailing route would have been Liverpool to Sydney via Cape of Good Hope, how long the bridge parts were on the ocean would depend on which type of ships were used.
By Cargo Steamship (Most Likely): 45 to 55 days (approx. 6 to 8 weeks). By 1900, heavy industrial "tramp" steamers or cargo liners averaged around 10–12 knots. They would stop once or twice (usually in Cape Town or Mauritius) to take on coal.
By Iron-Hulled Sailing Merchant/Clipper: 80 to 100 days (approx. 11 to 14 weeks). If Handyside were trying to save maximum capital on freight costs and weren't in a strict rush, they might use a large sailing merchant ship. These relied entirely on the trade winds and the "Roaring Forties."
Once the ship arrived in Sydney it would enter Port Jackson and dock at one of Sydney's major commercial wharves, such as Darling Harbour or Circular Quay.
The ironwork would be craned out of the ship's hold onto the wharf. From there, it would be loaded onto horse-drawn heavy dray carts or onto New South Wales Government Railways flatcars to be taken to the final bridge construction site on Glebe Island.
This entire journey would have covered around 15,600 miles and taken upto 3 months depending on ship type and weather conditions.
This bridge was opened on Wednesday 1st July 1903 by Miss Lily See, daughter of the then-Premier Sir John See (a prominent Australian politician)
The bridge was reported to have opened 5499 times just in its first year of operation, That’s 15 times a day !
The Glebe Island Bridge operated with little interruption from 1903 to 1995, when it was decommissioned upon the opening of the adjacent ANZAC Bridge.
The bridge was in sound, operable condition at the time and was assessed as being too significant to be demolished.
It was printed in The Derby Mercury on Friday 27th November 1925 :
"Many residents will remember the Glebe Island swing bridge, gracefully and serenely revolving" in Handyside's Fox Street yard, prior to shipment to Australia in 1899.
The National Trust (NSW) listed the Glebe Island Bridge on our National Trust Register in 1987, and it was also added to the State Heritage Register in 2013.
Since it was decommissioned, Glebe Island Bridge has remained closed and unused for the past 31 years and has fallen into a state of disrepair.
The National Trust has called for its repair and conservation (re-activation) many times over the last decade
There are plans to build 8500 homes near the bridge (The Bays West Precinct) and local groups are keen to get the bridge reopened for this new community. This is a similar story to our Friargate bridge.
Learn more about their bridge on this website :
https://www.glebeislandbridge.com/
After 1995 the bridge has remained in the open position and was operated and used for access by cyclists in the annual Spring Cycle
in October until 2008. Since that time, the bridge has been closed on average 3 times a year to test the swing span mechanism.
Total length of the bridge is 193 feet, with a width of 50 feet, 40 feet for the roadway and two 5 feet footways.
Total weight is 490 tons, The diameter of the roller track and drum is 35 feet
Engineer in chief for public works, New South Wales C.W. Darley Esq., M.I.C.E.
The cabin, controller and wiring were burnt out in a fire in 1982 and has been replaced by a reconstruction of the cabin and a more modern electrical arrangement than the original tram type controller.
The Bridge is moved by a pinion bearing on a crown wheel, which is part of the roller track.
During a power failure the Bridge can be moved manually.
The ends of the span move at 6km/hour and have a 25mm clearance where they meet the fixed trusses. The Bridge was designed to swing in 46 seconds and the delay to road traffic to be from 4 to 7 minutes.
The control cabin sits above the parapet at the centre of the south side of the span.
It is 4.36m long, 1.68m wide and 2.56m floor to ceiling. It is supported on eight cast-iron columns and a heavy timber frame about 2.8m above the bridge deck. There are decorative cast-iron Handyside friezes spanning between the columns.
I hope they managed to get this bridge restored and put back into operation as a community asset.
My reference sources :
Page 5 of the 1905 Catalogue "Steel & Iron structures made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co Ltd Derby and London reproduced from photos taken on the spot." The many Structures made and erected by Andrew Handyside & Co., Limited, between 1884 and 1903.
Derby Mercury 27th November 1925.
A Brief History of the Rolls-Royce Foundries Site by Tony Ruff Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Please share this post to anyone you think would be interested.
If you know of any items (apart from Post boxes) in the world bearing the Andrew Handyside badge that I have not marked on my world map, then please let me know.
Thanks
Andy
