We’re off again in search of cool bridges to write about, but this time I came up with a mixed bag! On this trip I’m headed for Buenos Aires to pick up my fifth continent, where I’ll board the Celebrity Equinox for an exciting cruise to pick up my sixth continent, Antarctica. And after visiting one of the northernmost bridges in the world in August, I thought why not go in search of the southernmost bridge in the world?
To start this search, we need to narrow down the field with some geography.
Antarctica, as the southernmost continental land mass on Earth, would be the logical place to start in the search for the world’s southernmost bridge. Home to penguins and the south pole, Antarctica is also the largest desert on earth and covered almost entirely by ice and snow. But there are a few locations with enough shelter and occasional warming that are snow free in summer. One such location is the McMurdo Station on Ross Island, home to the United States’ Antarctic research station.
McMurdo is located at around 77 degrees south latitude, while the closest the Equinox will get is Paradise Bay at approximately 65 degrees south latitude. This puts us about 2500 miles from McMurdo.
There is a Bailey Bridge located at McMurdo which is used for accessing the ice pier in Winter Quarters Bay. First constructed in 1973, the ice pier and harbor must be opened each season by ice breaker. US Coast Guard ice breaker Polar Star visits McMurdo each year for just this purpose. This natural harbor and the ice pier and bridge are one method used for transporting equipment and materials to the McMurdo station.
Moving north, the next nearest land mass to Antarctica is the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, which forms the tip of South America. Tierra del Fuego extends from about 54 degrees south latitude at its northernmost point to 56 degrees south latitude at Cape Horn, the southernmost point of the continent.
Ferdinand Magellan first named the islands after discovering the passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans which bears his name. The Tierra del Fuego name, “Islands of Fire,” referred to the many fires that were lit by the native inhabitants along the shoreline. To this day, Tierra del Fuego remains accessible by air or by sea. To my knowledge, there are no significant bridges here.
While walking around during my visit to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, I did notice a few structures which might be considered bridges. However, it was difficult to determine if these are culverts or some other buried structure. It could be that these would be considered but for the purposes of this article, they are not.
Moving north, the next location with bridges and population would be the Falkland Islands. Known as the Malvinas Islands in Argentina, who claim possession of them, the archipelago lies 300 nautical miles east of the South American mainland between 51 and 53 degrees south latitude.
The Falkland Islands Company (FIC) was founded in 1851 by Samuel Fisher Lafone to raise cattle, which eventually gave way to sheep farming. Over the years, the company has diversified greatly from its farm beginnings. Today it is a diversified goods and services trading company, being granted a royal charter for trade in 1852 by Queen Victoria.
But FIC had a problem in the early part of the 20th century. The company’s shearing operation was being consolidated in Goose Green, with sheep from local farms in Darwin and Walker Creek being herded to Goose Green. For sheep raised in Walker Creek, this meant a lengthy detour around Bodie Creek, an inlet from Choiseul Sound. FIC proposed to build a footbridge across Bodie Creek for herding sheep to and from Goose Green in 1922.
With little in the way of materials or fabrication means located in the Falklands, FIC decided to purchase a kit bridge from the United Kingdom and have it shipped to the Falklands. David Rowell and Company of London designed and fabricated the bridge. Once it arrived, construction was overseen by engineer Charles P. Peters and the bridge was built by a foreman and 14 laborers.
Construction of the steel works began in October 1924 and was complete by July 1925. Approach roads were completed in October 1925, allowing the bridge to open for shearing season.
The bridge is a suspension bridge, with a 400 foot span over Bodie Creek. The deck is 8 feet wide and is suspended by four 2 inch diameter steel cables. These cables transfer load to two 40 foot tall towers at each end of the bridge. After 70 years of neglect, the bridge was closed to traffic in 1997. While there is some hope that the bridge can be restored, the National Trust fears the bridge may be lost. However, it still stands and is a tourist draw for the area.
So there we have it, two bridges to choose from that could hold the distinction of being the southernmost in the world. The caveat here is that neither bridge is currently open to the public, which means if we want the southernmost public bridge, we may have to go farther north.
I was hopeful that I would be able to visit the Bodie Creek bridge on my recent cruise to Antarctica aboard Celebrity Equinox. We were scheduled to visit Port Stanley on January 25, but due to expected high winds in the range of 30-40 knots, the Harbormaster decided to close the port to all vessels. Equinox ended up overnighting in Puerto Madryn instead.
For reference, below is a comparison of the possible southernmost continental or island points:
- Cape Agulhas (Africa) – 34.8 degrees south
- Slope Point (New Zealand) – 46.5 degrees south
- South East Cape (Australia) – 43.5 degrees south
- Falkland Islands – between 51 and 53 degrees south
- Cape Horn (South America) – 56 degrees south
