Elgin Bridge (Singapore)

Coordinates: 1°17′20.6″N 103°50′57.3″E / 1.289056°N 103.849250°E

Elgin Bridge 爱琴桥
Carries	Motor vehicles and pedestrians
Crosses	Singapore River
Locale	Singapore River, Singapore
Official name	Elgin Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Total length	46 metres
Width	25 metres
History
Opened	1929

Elgin Bridge is a vehicular bridge across the Singapore River, linking the Downtown Core to the Singapore River Planning Area located within Singapore's Central Area.

The existing bridge was completed in 1929 and named after Lord Elgin, Governor-General of India (21 March 1862 - 20 November 1863). As this was the first bridge across the river, the two roads leading to it were named North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road accordingly.

History

The crest of the Singapore Municipal Commission at one end of Elgin Bridge, Singapore.

Elgin Bridge is believed to have existed at its current location as an unnamed footbridge as early as 1819,^[1] the year Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles landed on Singapore. It was the only bridge across the Singapore River, linking the Chinese community on the southern side to the Indian merchants of High Street on the northern side.^[1]

This footbridge was replaced by a wooden drawbridge in 1822^[1] officially named Presentment Bridge. It was also called Monkey Bridge, as its narrowness limited the number of people crossing at a time and therefore using it required some agility.

In 1843, a wooden footbridge built by John Turnbull Thomson replaced the drawbridge, but was demolished in 1862, when an iron bridge was built and named after James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, Governor General of India. In 1925 the iron bridge had to make way for a new concrete bridge, which was opened to traffic by the Governor of the Straits Settlements Sir Hugh Clifford on 30 May 1929.

Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli, an Italian sculptor, designed the elegant cast iron lamps on both sides of the bridge. His signature is inscribed beneath the lamps. Bronze plaques, each with a lion standing in front of a royal palm tree engraved on it, can also be found below the lamps.

Elgin Bridge is known as thih tiau kio in Hokkien, meaning "iron suspension bridge".

On 3 November 2008, the bridge was selected for conservation as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's expanded conservation programme.^[2]

References

1. G. Chandradas, Tien Chung Ping (21 August 2008). "Bridging the gap", The Straits Times.
2. http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_285801.html

• Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2004), Toponymics — A Study of Singapore Street Names, Eastern University Press, ISBN 981-210-364-3

See also

• List of bridges in Singapore