Does anyone know what happened to the Arch on Princes bridge? I’ve just seen this photo for the first time and am now nostalgic for an arch I’ve never seen

Wasn’t built for longevity 

It was built for a royal visit in 1901 and there was a 4- way arch at Collins and Russell also.
https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/2005595

They were temporary, so just timber, plaster and paint really.

The current Princes Bridge is the third edition opened in 1888. This photo shows the second version of the bridge which opened in 1850 and had an arch. It was demolished during the gold rush.

I never knew the reason for demolishing the second version of the bridge (the one in this photo). I found this information on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Bridge): “Within a year of the bridge’s opening, gold was discovered in country Victoria and Melbourne saw a massive increase in population. In addition to the increase in traffic crossing the bridge, there was also a need to handle increased shipping traffic on the Yarra River, and the river was widened to cope with this. By that time the Yarra River had been heavily modified both upstream and downstream, and the major floods of the early years were becoming less common. In the late 1870s it was decided to replace the 1850 bridge”

BTW the original bridge in this location was built in the 1840s as Balbirnies Bridge.

Some idiot misjudged the height restrictions and drove a truck into it