The Jervois Bridge control tower now has a permanent home on display near the water near Harts Mill, with works underway today to relocate it after heavy restoration and protective works at our Kilburn Depot. This important piece of Port Adelaide’s history was awarded a Historic Engineering Marker in 1994 due to its technological, historic and social significance.
The original Jervois Bridge was opened in 1878 as the only link between the Port and the Lefevre Peninsula. The swing mechanism on the original bridge was controlled by a person sitting in the wooden Control Tower on top of the steel gantry that crossed the road.
At that time, Port Adelaide was a bustling maritime gateway for the state of South Australia. The government employed a person who lived nearby so that they could quickly get to the bridge at any time of the day or night to let ships pass.
It used to be on display over the entrance to the former carpark on Nile Street next to the bridge, however, in 2016 we had to remove it to allow construction of the new State government building. It was taken to our Kilburn depot and over the course of many years, a complex project was undertaken to restore it, while we worked on finding a new home for it in the vicinity of its original location where it will never be required to move again.
