The curious 150-year history of Redesdale Bridge: An unlikely fire, council bickering and crashes

But that is where the story of the Redesdale Bridge effectively begins – one of Australia’s most unique and sturdy structures, connecting the small communities of Redesdale and Mia Mia.

It took a series of unlikely events for the bridge to find itself stationed over the Campaspe River, where it has remained since 1867 following its opening a year later.

The book Mia Mia: The Place and its People contained a detailed description of the events leading up to the opening.

Related: Redesdale residents connecting a divided town

In 1859, a ship carrying 350 tonnes of wrought ironwork was sitting in Hobson’s Bay after a long journey from England. The iron was destined to become the Hawthorn bridge, crossing the Yarra River at Swan Street to connect Hawthorn and Richmond.

The ship caught fire, however.

To save the dock, the ship was taken out to sea and scuttled in the bay. The ironwork went down as well, and was moved to the shallow waters where it remained for several weeks.

Surely the corrosive seawater and fire damage meant the material could no longer be used, it was thought at the time. A parliamentary scandal erupted after the fire – a story for another day.

After much effort, the materials were salvaged from the water and purchased for 2000 pounds by Melbourne foundry Langlands with “very slight” damage, The Argus reported.

They just needed to find a buyer.

Meanwhile, in central Victoria, more and more settlers were making the at-times dangerous crossing of the Campaspe River at Redesdale.

The route was becoming busier by the year, and the Shire of McIvor on the western side of the river, and Shire of Metcalfe on the east, saw it as unsustainable.

A bridge was needed.

It was rare for rural councils to combine for an infrastructure project of this scale. Some staff at these two shires in particular had some deep-seated animosity for one another.

With a government grant in hand, engineers travelled to Melbourne to find materials and spotted a bargain: 6000 pounds worth of ironwork for 1000 pounds.

McIvor engineer JT Strong and Metcalfe engineer TB Muntz just needed to agree on a design – easier said than done.

The pair exchanged strong words in the pages of the local newspaper. A third party was needed to settle their differences and construction finally started.

The condition of the iron came under question, and a rule was recommended stopping cattle from trotting over it to allay concerns. A series of disputes with Langlands over scraping and painting the material caused further delays.

What resulted was a triple-through truss bridge with stiffening arches – a rare design, and one of architectural significance for Victoria.

After delays and cost blowouts, the Redesdale Bridge was finally ready to be officially opened on January 23, 1868.

The Minister of Mines, mayors of Castlemaine, Heathcote and Taradale, and presidents of Kyneton and Glenlyon, and a range of other dignatories attended as Councillors Cocks – the president of McIvor Shire – presided over the opening.

A bottle of champagne was smashed against the side.

Despite original concerns, the bridge stood the test of time.

Andrew Campbell played Councillor Cocks in a re-enactment of the opening this week and gave a speech to those gathered.

“Welcome to Redesdale on this historic day – a day when we officially open this bridge across the Campaspe,” he said.

“A bridge that will link the communities of Redesdale and Mia Mia, the shire of McIvor and Metcalfe, the ever-growing Goldfields of Kyneton and Heathcote, and provide safe passage for our mail service.

“I would be as bold as to say that it will stand athe test of time and could be still standing 100 or even 150 years from now.”

John Barker has lived next to the bridge for 38 years and always marvels at the engineering of 150 years ago.

When six trucks weighing a combined total of 250 tonnes were placed on the bridge to test its strength, it deflected by just 2.7 centimetres.

“To think that it was designed on the other side of the world 160 years ago, and then the journey it went through once it was in Australia, it’s just amazing,” Mr Barker said.

The testing took place to see if it was suitable for B-doubles. It was, but the rest of the Heathcore-Redesdale Road wasn’t.

Not bad for a structure made of material that spent weeks submerged in seawater.

The bridge was completely restored in 1998 but, just six months later, a truck’s brakes failed as it approached from the Redesdale side. It was carrying a Traxcavator which smashed into the side, causing extensive damage.

“I was here watching the cricket and I heard this noise coming down the road, I thought ‘this is going to be big’. Then I heard the massive crash,” Mr Barker said.

Having just been restored, the government could not fund new materials. It took six months to repair the structure and even longer to reopen the bridge.

It was one of many stories that fill the history of the unique bridge.

Over its 150 years, the Redesdale Bridge has become the heart of the rural communities of Redesdale and Mia Mia.

A crowd is expected to celebrate its sesquicentenary on Saturday, with a re-enactment of the naming of the bridge, archival videos, photographs, the presentation of a commemorative quilt and more.

Organiser Kathy Hall said it was an opportunity for the communities to celebrate what brings them together.

“The bridge symbolises the joining of our two communities,” she said.

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The Redesdale Bridge 150-year celebrations begin at 11am Saturday at the Redesdale Hall.

Refreshments will be provided.