Building of the first permanent Victoria Bridge connecting the city to South Brisbane, Queensland

In 1861, the council and the legislative assembly agreed to build a bridge. The council borrowed £70,000 from the Bank of Queensland to commence the project. The Brisbane Corporation held a competition for the bridge’s design, which was won by Messrs Robinson and l’Anson. Despite the intention of Robinson and l’Anson to build an iron bridge, funding issues forced the Brisbane Corporation to use wooden piers instead of steel for the substructure. Construction on the provisional timber bridge across the river began in 1864. Sir George Bowen, Queensland’s first Governor, laid the bridge’s foundation stone on 22 August that year and construction was completed only 10 months later, in 1865.