Victoria Bridge is one of the oldest railway bridges in Malaysia. It was constructed between December 1897 and March 1900 by the Perak State Railway and named after Queen Victoria I.
The bridge was designed by Mr. G. W. Fryer, a train engineer, assisted by Mr. C. R. Hanson. The estimated total cost was $325,000.
Located in the town of Karai in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, the bridge served a coal mining town in the early 19th century, renowned for its high-quality coal, which made it a hub of production.
To oversee the coal industry, the British established a railway network extending from Kinta Valley to the north, with Karai as one of its stops.
Victoria Bridge is a single-track railway truss bridge spanning the Perak River, officially opened on 21 March 1900 by Sultan Idris Murshidul Azam Shah.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Federated Malay States British Governor-General, Sir Frank Swettenham.
Notably, near the bridge was Enggor Railway Station Complex, which featured ticket counters and communication facilities.
In December 1941, British army engineers detonated the bridge to impede Japanese advances towards Singapore. However, it was reconstructed during the Japanese occupation of Karai. The Japanese hired local labourers to rebuild the bridge, paying them 55 cents per day.
References:
Mamat, M. J., & Aziz, M. F. A. (2018, September). Relationships of Early British Amenities with the Formation of Small Towns in Perak. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 401, No. 1, p. 012007). IOP Publishing.
Aliasak, M. H. H., Osman, M. N., Zakaria, S. R., Sa’ad, M. F., & Ling, N. L. F. J. (2016). Town of Karai: The Only Coal Mining Site in the State of Perak and Its Contribution to the Urban Development. In Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014) Science and Technology (pp. 187-199). Springer Singapore.
Mamat, M. J., & Aziz, M. F. A. (2018, September). Relationships of Early British Amenities with the Formation of Small Towns in Perak. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 401, No. 1, p. 012007). IOP Publishing.
