The provincial government contracted Sir Charles Fox in London to design a more substantial bridge.
Fox and Henderson Co. was also charged with tendering the work, and the commission for wrought iron girders went to Head Ashby of Stockton-on-Tees at a cost of £605.
A delay was caused by the girders being found to be deficient, and they had to be recast before shipping to New Zealand.

Meanwhile, the local bridge design was undertaken by the Assistant Provincial Engineer, James Wylde, and the site works awarded to Edward George Wright, whose winning tender was £2,375.
Wright began his work in January 1864, whilst the iron girders did not arrive in Lyttelton until July of that year.
However, the journey by sea had been rough, and shifting cargo had caused three of the girders to crack.
This was repaired at John Anderson's foundry at a cost of over £300; Anderson had wrought iron plates riveted over the cracks.
Wright constructed solid square stone blocks for the girders to terminate in, and the bridge was built at a width of 27 feet 6 inches (8.38 m).
It opened on 28 September 1864 with considerable ceremony, with four guards placed at the bridge the previous evening so that nobody would cross it prior to the opening ceremony.
The honour of opening the bridge fell to John Ollivier as chairman of the Christchurch Town Council, and Dr William Donald as resident magistrate of Lyttelton.
Ollivier broke a bottle of champagne on the bridge to declare it open, and it fell to Donald to officially name it Victoria Bridge.
The new bridge was heavily criticised by one of the local newspapers, The Press, for being of a much more complex and expensive construction type than would have been necessary, yet they questioned whether the abutments would even withhold the lateral forces induced by the reasonably flat girders.
The total cost of the bridge was reported to the Town Council as £3,410 10s.
At the same time, ownership of the bridge was transferred from the Provincial Council to the Town Council.
The Provincial Council allocated a further £300 to the project, and thus paid £3,300 towards the total costs.

The Canterbury foothills were hit by a severe rainstorm on 3 February 1868, and the Waimakariri River broke its banks between Courtenay and Halkett (near Kirwee), entering the headwater of the Avon River at Avonhead.
The flood water reached Christchurch at 10 am of the following day and rose rapidly and that evening, the city was under water.
In Dr Barker's house, located on the corner of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace and thus only some 400 metres (1,300 ft) upstream from the Victoria Bridge, the water was 3 feet (0.91 m) deep.
The Worcester Street Bridge was washed downstream by a distance of 150 yards (140 m), and the north end of the Colombo Street Bridge was swept away.
The Gloucester Street suspension footbridge and the much more substantial Victoria Bridge survived the flood without damage, and the Madras Street and Stanmore Road bridges further downstream were also undamaged.

The bridge was widened in 1875 to a design by Samuel A'Court.
Wing piers were added and outrigger wooden footpaths were added.
The wing piers are documented on a commemorative plaque, but the description is technically incorrect, as the piers are not load-bearing structural elements.
In October 1877, George Gould presented a petition to the city council to have Whately Road renamed to Victoria Street, which was acceded to.

Steam trams started their regular service to St Albans along Whately and Papanui Roads on 5 June 1880, and by August the line had been extended to reach its terminus at the Papanui railway station.

In 1885, only ten years after the last occasion, the bridge was widened again, this time to its ultimate width of 20.1 metres (66 ft), which is the standard legal (i.e. boundary to boundary) width of most roads in the central city of one chain.
The work was undertaken by Walter Bory Scott, who at the same time constructed the nearby Worcester Street Bridge; this other bridge is also registered as a Category II heritage structure.

The Du
The provincial government contracted Sir Charles Fox in London to design a more substantial bridge. Fox and Henderson Co. was also charged with tendering the work, and the commission for wrought iron girders went to Head Ashby of Stockton-on-Tees at a cost of £605. A delay was caused by the girders being found to be deficient, and they had to be recast before shipping to New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the local bridge design was undertaken by the Assistant Provincial Engineer, James Wylde, and the site works awarded to Edward George Wright, whose winning tender was £2,375. Wright began his work in January 1864, whilst the iron girders did not arrive in Lyttelton until July of that year. However, the journey by sea had been rough, and shifting cargo had caused three of the girders to crack. This was repaired at John Anderson's foundry at a cost of over £300; Anderson had wrought iron plates riveted over the cracks. Wright constructed solid square stone blocks for the girders to terminate in, and the bridge was built at a width of 27 feet 6 inches (8.38 m). It opened on 28 September 1864 with considerable ceremony, with four guards placed at the bridge the previous evening so that nobody would cross it prior to the opening ceremony. The honour of opening the bridge fell to John Ollivier as chairman of the Christchurch Town Council, and Dr William Donald as resident magistrate of Lyttelton. Ollivier broke a bottle of champagne on the bridge to declare it open, and it fell to Donald to officially name it Victoria Bridge. The new bridge was heavily criticised by one of the local newspapers, The Press, for being of a much more complex and expensive construction type than would have been necessary, yet they questioned whether the abutments would even withhold the lateral forces induced by the reasonably flat girders. The total cost of the bridge was reported to the Town Council as £3,410 10s. At the same time, ownership of the bridge was transferred from the Provincial Council to the Town Council. The Provincial Council allocated a further £300 to the project, and thus paid £3,300 towards the total costs.
The Canterbury foothills were hit by a severe rainstorm on 3 February 1868, and the Waimakariri River broke its banks between Courtenay and Halkett (near Kirwee), entering the headwater of the Avon River at Avonhead. The flood water reached Christchurch at 10 am of the following day and rose rapidly and that evening, the city was under water. In Dr Barker's house, located on the corner of Worcester Street and Oxford Terrace and thus only some 400 metres (1,300 ft) upstream from the Victoria Bridge, the water was 3 feet (0.91 m) deep. The Worcester Street Bridge was washed downstream by a distance of 150 yards (140 m), and the north end of the Colombo Street Bridge was swept away. The Gloucester Street suspension footbridge and the much more substantial Victoria Bridge survived the flood without damage, and the Madras Street and Stanmore Road bridges further downstream were also undamaged.
The bridge was widened in 1875 to a design by Samuel A'Court. Wing piers were added and outrigger wooden footpaths were added. The wing piers are documented on a commemorative plaque, but the description is technically incorrect, as the piers are not load-bearing structural elements. In October 1877, George Gould presented a petition to the city council to have Whately Road renamed to Victoria Street, which was acceded to.
Steam trams started their regular service to St Albans along Whately and Papanui Roads on 5 June 1880, and by August the line had been extended to reach its terminus at the Papanui railway station.
In 1885, only ten years after the last occasion, the bridge was widened again, this time to its ultimate width of 20.1 metres (66 ft), which is the standard legal (i.e. boundary to boundary) width of most roads in the central city of one chain. The work was undertaken by Walter Bory Scott, who at the same time constructed the nearby Worcester Street Bridge; this other bridge is also registered as a Category II heritage structure.
The Du
Hamish Hay Bridge