BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019 VOL. 14 ISSUE 04 FEATURE BRIDGING PASSAGEWAYS ACROSS WATER Lim Tin Seng traces the history of nine iconic bridges spanning Lim Tin Seng is a Librarian with the National the Singapore River that have ties to the colonial period. Library, Singapore. He is co-editor of Roots: Tracing Family Histories – A Resource Guide (2013), Harmony and Development: ASEAN- China Relations (2009) and China’s New Social Policy: Initiatives for a Harmonious Society Kim Seng HISTORY (2010). He also contributes regularly to BiblioAsia. Bridge 9 Ord Clemenceau Bridge Coleman Bridge 7 Bridge 4 Read 6 Bridge 3 Elgin 5 Bridge Pulau Saigon Anderson Bridge 8 Bridge 1 Cavenagh Bridge 2 The bridges erected over the Singapore stood at the site where Elgin Bridge is Bridge, as well as stronger steel or rein- built in 1910, Cavenagh Bridge was, River during the colonial period are found today.1 forced concrete bridges like Anderson fortunately, spared the wrecking ball and (Above) This illustration shows the locations of nine bridges along the Singapore River. more than mere structures providing Stronger materials such as iron, Bridge, the second Elgin Bridge and the turned into a pedestrian bridge. Anderson Bridge is sited nearest the mouth of the river, while Kim Seng Bridge is the furthest. safe passageway across this historic steel and reinforced concrete, as well second Read Bridge. Anderson Bridge was designed t A c.1910 photograph showing Anderson Bridge and the clock tower of Victoria Memorial body of water. They were hailed as as more sophisticated structural bridge by Municipal Engineer Robert Peirce Hall on the left. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. marvels of engineering – given the designs like the steel truss arch, the 1 Anderson Bridge and his assistant D.M. Martin. With technology and building materials avail- tied-arch and the truss girder, were not Anderson Bridge, which connects Empress a length of about 230 ft (70 m), the able at the time. More importantly, by adopted until after the second half of Place to Collyer Quay, is named after bridge has an elaborate steel truss promising conveyance to an endless the 19th century.2 The introduction of John Anderson, Governor of the Straits structure comprising three steel arches stream of human life and cargo, these new materials, designs and technol- Settlements and High Commissioner for spanning the length of its deck framed bridges also came to symbolise the life- ogy to Singapore was the legacy of the the Federated Malay States (1904–11). by a towering column at each end. Each blood of transportation, commerce and colonial government, who called upon In 1901, a proposal was made to replace column bears a plaque made of red social interaction in pre-independent foreign architects, civil engineers and Cavenagh Bridge – which had been used granite imported from Egypt. The bridge Singapore. builders to lend their expertise to bridge since 1869 – with Anderson Bridge. also has two pedestrian footpaths, one Despite such lofty associations, building projects on the island. Cavenagh Bridge could no longer on each side, and rusticated archways many of these colonial bridges started From the final decades of the 19th support the growing vehicular and flanking each footpath, making a total out as humble wooden structures. century until the 1950s, Singapore pedestrian traffic that came with the rapid of four archways. One of the earliest that spanned the would witness the construction of development of Singapore because its The bridge was constructed by Singapore River dates back to 1823. modern iron bridges, such as the first low height allowance prevented vessels Howarth Erskine Ltd and the abutments by This rickety bridge made of wood was Elgin Bridge, Ord Bridge, Read Bridge, from passing unencumbered beneath the Westminster Construction Company known as Presentment Bridge, and Cavenagh Bridge and the third Coleman at high tide. After Anderson Bridge was Ltd. The steelwork was fabricated in 42 43 BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019 VOL. 14 ISSUE 04 FEATURE River. Built in 1823 by Philip Jackson, the Assistant Engineer and Surveyor of Public Lands, to link the northern and southern banks of the river, the wooden bridge sat on timber piles. It was 240 ft (73 m) long and 18 ft (5.5 m) wide, and had an arch in the middle that could be drawn to allow vessels to pass beneath.5 After numerous repairs undertaken between 1827 and 1842, Presentment Bridge was demolished and replaced by another wooden bridge in 1844 called Thomson Bridge. It was named after its architect John Turnbull Thomson, who was then Government Surveyor of the Straits Settlements. Like its predecessor, the bridge also underwent several rounds of repairs before it was dismantled and replaced with Elgin Bridge in 1862. The bridge that we see today is, in Britain, while other components such as fact, not the first but the second Elgin the railings, castings, rainwater channels, Bridge. It is named after the 8th Earl gully frames and covers were produced of Elgin, Lord James Bruce, also the locally at the municipal workshops on Governor General of India (1862–63), River Valley Road. and connects North Bridge Road with In 1987, the bridge was refurbished South Bridge Road. The first Elgin Bridge as part of the Singapore River masterplan was built in 1862 by engineer George and subsequently earmarked for con- Lyon to replace the aforementioned servation by the Urban Redevelopment Thomson Bridge. Authority (URA) in 2008. Today, the bridge When completed, the first Elgin is used by both vehicles and pedestrians. Bridge, like the bridges before it, served Every year since 2008, the bridge is as an important transportation conduit bathed by the glare of floodlights after between the north and south banks darkness falls as one of the landmarks of the Singapore River. In 1886, the in the serpentine Formula One Singapore bridge was widened and strengthened Grand Prix. to accommodate growing traffic as well (Top) A striking night scene of Anderson Bridge, 2009. The bridge is named after John Anderson, as a tramway line. By the 1920s, traffic 2 Cavenagh Bridge Governor of the Straits Settlements and High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States using the bridge had become so heavy (1904 –11). Courtesy of Carrie Kellenberger via flickr. Cavenagh Bridge is named after William that a decision was made in 1925 to Orfeur Cavenagh, the last Governor of (Above) A 1900s postcard of Cavenagh Bridge, with a view of the government quarter. Completed in replace it with an even wider one that the Straits Settlements under British 1869, it is the oldest bridge in Singapore that still exists in its original form today. Courtesy of National could accommodate two 25-ft (7.5 m) Archives of Singapore. India control (1859–67). Completed in carriageways and a “five-foot way” (as 1869, it is the oldest bridge in Singapore pavements or walkways were referred that still exists in its original form.3 The cutting-edge technology was adopted the business district of Commercial to in the colonial period) on each side. bridge was designed by George Chancellor for Cavenagh Bridge, giving the bridge Square (today’s Raffles Place) at the The new structure, which would Collyer, Chief Engineer of the Straits the design we see today.4 south bank of Singapore River and the become the Elgin Bridge we see today, Settlements, and Rowland Mason Ordish, The bridge was constructed using administrative district in the north. By was completed in 1929. It was designed a civil engineer based in London. iron to ensure that it could withstand the the time Anderson Bridge was opened by Municipal Bridge Engineer T.C. Hood Ordish was responsible for the high tensile forces of the cables. The iron in 1910, Cavenagh Bridge had served and features three elegant arches sup- design of several notable projects in components were fabricated in Glasgow, its purpose and was converted into a ported by slender hanging columns. The London, including Joseph Paxton’s Crys- Scotland, by P & W MacLellan, the same pedestrians-only footbridge. concrete-encased steel framework was (Top) A view of Presentment Bridge in the 1830s. Built in 1823, this was one of the earliest bridges tal Palace (1851) and the dome-shaped firm that made the cast iron for Telok Around 30 years ago, Cavenagh fabricated in Glasgow and assembled that spanned the Singapore River. It was replaced in 1844 with Thomson Bridge. In the background is roof of Albert Hall (1871). He was also a Ayer Market. The components were later Bridge underwent a five-month locally. On both ends of the bridge are Government Hill (present-day Fort Canning Hill). Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National prolific bridge builder, having designed shipped to Singapore and assembled by refurbishment at a cost $1.2 million to cast-iron lamp posts and roundels of Heritage Board. the Franz-Josef Bridge in Prague (1868) Indian convict labour. preserve and strengthen its structure. It the Singapura lion designed by Italian (Middle) View of North Boat Quay with the first Elgin Bridge across the Singapore River, c. 1910. and the Albert Bridge in London (1873). In Although Cavenagh Bridge was reopened on 3 July 1987. sculptor Cavalieri Rodolfo Nolli. These Docked on the river are twakow or tongkang (bumboats) that used to transport goods. The clock tower 1858, Ordish patented a bridge construc- built too low for vessels to pass beneath embellishments were salvaged from the of Victoria Memorial Hall stands in the left background. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. 3 tion method called Ordish’s straight-chain it during high tide, it served the local Elgin Bridge first Elgin Bridge.