{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox Bridge |bridge_name= Victoria Bridge |image=Mersey-Bridge-20070312-003.jpg |caption=Victoria Bridge view from the Southern Aspect |official_name=Victoria Bridge |carries= [[Bass Highway, Tasmania|Bass Highway]] |crosses=[[Mersey River (Tasmania)|Mersey River]] |locale=[[Devonport, Tasmania]], Australia |maint=[[Department of State Growth]] |design=[[Prestressed concrete]] [[Girder bridge|Girder]] |mainspan= |length= |width= |height= |clearance= |below= |traffic= |open= 1901<br/>1973 (reopened) |closed= |toll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |coordinates={{coord|41|11|34|S|146|22|2|E}} |lat= |long= }}
The original Victoria Bridge on the [[Mersey River (Tasmania)|Mersey River]], [[Devonport, Tasmania]], Australia was opened in 1901,<ref>{{cite web|title=Our History |date=23 May 2019 |publisher=Devonport City Council |url=https://www.devonport.tas.gov.au/live/residents/devonport-history/ |accessdate=14 September 2022}}</ref> causing the reduction of boat and ferry traffic.
The Victoria Bridge partly collapsed as a result of the continuous boring by [[Teredo (bivalve)|teredo]] worms in 1924.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Broken Bridge |publisher=[[The Advocate (Tasmania)|The Advocate]] |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/67122316?searchTerm=&searchLimits=l-publictag=Dpt+Victoria+Bridge+collapse+-+Agnew+-+2+Feb+1924 |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
In 1973 a new concrete bridge replaced the old, battered Victoria Bridge, with the [[Bass Highway, Tasmania|Bass Highway]], a national highway (Highway 1), being the main arterial road dividing the suburb of Devonport from the suburbs of [[Miandetta, Tasmania|Miandetta]] and [[Stony Rise]] on the western side of the city and East Devonport and [[Ambleside, Tasmania|Ambelside]] on the eastern side of the city.
A permanent speed camera at [[East Devonport]] near Victoria Bridge was installed on the 18th of November, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=North-West permanent speed cameras to go live |publisher=Tasmania Police |url=http://www.police.tas.gov.au/news-events/media-releases/north-west-permanent-speed-cameras-to-go-live/ |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
On a crossing of the Victoria Bridge there is a good view of the port and its facilities. Most travellers look out to see if the ''[[Spirit of Tasmania I]]'' or ''[[Spirit of Tasmania II]]'' are in port or the trader vessels Searoad Mersey or Searoad Tamar. Enhancing the view of the boats in port is the Julie Burgess a wooden tall ship.<ref>{{cite web|title=Julie Burgess a Success |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2013/08/02/3817067.htm |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
The Victoria Bridge is used by the Port of Devonport Authority as its boundary for the port.<ref>{{cite web|title=Port of Devonport |publisher=Shipping Guides Ltd (UK) |url=http://www.findaport.com/port-of-devonport |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
Inland Fisheries (Recreational Fishing) Regulations 1999 lists waters of the Mersey River, below the Victoria Bridge at Devonport that it is allowable for a person may to take indigenous fish without an angling licence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inland Fisheries (Recreational Fishing) Regulations 1999 |publisher=Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment |url=http://www.thelaw.tas.gov.au/print/index.w3p;doc_id=+157+1999+AT@EN+20080405000000;rec=0 |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
Local Businesses have taken on the name of the bridge incorporating it into their business name.<ref>{{cite web|title=Victoria Bridge Self Serve |publisher=Dlook |url=http://www.dlook.com.au/service-stations-and-garages/tas-merseylyell-devonport/victoria-bridge-self-serve-7682563 |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
==Incidents== Deputy Commissioner Lewis was the only passenger in a motor vehicle which left the road at the eastern end of the Victoria Bridge at Devonport and plunged into the Mersey River on 3 August 1959.<ref>{{cite web|title=Honour Roll |publisher=National Police Memorial |url=http://www.npm.org.au/lewis-0 |accessdate=21 April 2017 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Road infrastructure in Tasmania}}
[[Category:Road bridges in Tasmania]] [[Category:Bridges completed in 1973]] [[Category:Devonport, Tasmania]] [[Category:Mersey River (Tasmania)]]