Fairfield Bridge

Fairfield Bridge is a tied-arch bridge on the Waikato River in Fairfield, Hamilton, New Zealand. It is one of six bridges in the city. It spans from River Road, on the east bank of the river, to Victoria Street, on the west side.It was registered as a Category I 'Historic Place' with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on 30 August 1990. The Great Race starts just north of the bridge, with the rowers passing under it during the race.There were days when drovers would drive stock over the main Fairfield Bridge to Frankton saleyeards.Design and constructionThe bridge is 139 metres long, and has two land spans, and three arches which are 70cm wide, 40m long and 7.9m above the road at their highest point. The road is 20ft wide, and the footpaths 5ft. The arches and spans are made from reinforced concrete. It was designed by Stanley Jones of Auckland, and Roose Shipping started construction in August 1934. The bridge was opened in April 1937 by the Minister of Public Works Bob Semple. It was the fourth large reinforced concrete tied-arch bridge in New Zealand, and the second over the Waikato River.When the building of a bridge in the Fairfield suburb was proposed, many people felt that it would seldom be used. At that time it was just north of the city boundary, in Waikato County. Sixty-five years later, in 2002, there were about 20,000 vehicles travelling across the bridge each day.