Birchenough Bridge

Far from Bulawayo, about 400 km east in Manicaland, where the road from Masvingo to Mutare crosses the Save River. · From 1935

Also known as Birchenough.

Single-span steel arch across the Save River, opened 20 December 1935, designed by Ralph Freeman and paid for by the Beit Trust; named after the trust's chairman, Sir Henry Birchenough.

For anyone driving east from Bulawayo towards Mutare or the eastern border, Birchenough Bridge is the moment the journey changes. The road drops into the hot, flat valley of the Save River, and the bridge’s silver arch rises out of it. It looks unexpectedly like a smaller Sydney Harbour Bridge, and it nearly is one.

The bridge

The bridge was opened on 20 December 1935. It was designed by Ralph Freeman, who had worked on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and built by Dorman Long. Its arch spans about 329 metres, roughly two-thirds the length of Sydney’s. When it opened it was the third-longest single-span arch bridge in the world. It cost £145,000.

It was paid for by the Beit Trust, the charity set up under the will of the mining financier Alfred Beit. The trust also paid for bridges, schools, scholarships and hospitals across the region, including in Bulawayo, where Milton’s Beit Hall carries its name. The bridge is named after the trust’s chairman, Sir Henry Birchenough. His ashes are said to be buried beneath the structure. The bridge appears on Zimbabwe’s twenty-cent coin. It was strengthened in 1984, and heavy trucks are now limited to 25 tonnes.

What the photographs show

The photographs in this set show the road approaching the bridge, side views and close-ups of the arch and its steelwork, the Save River beneath, and a portrait of Sir Henry Birchenough, Baronet.

What we don’t know yet

Who took these photographs and when. And your own crossing: the drive east, a stop at the village of Birchenough Bridge, a family photograph on the bank. We would like to see it.

29 photographs of Birchenough Bridge →