To obtain better foundations, a slight alteration had been made to the proposed site, while the estimated cost, including cuttings from both Burwood Road and Church Street, was £40,000.

The consignment bridge materials weighed some 350 tons and, together with its erection cranes, had cost £10,500, so the sinking of Herald of the Morning represented a disaster for Melbourne's metropolitan bridge-building program.

[2] A newspaper account gives some further details:[3] Whilst at Sandridge we paid a visit to the wreck of the Herald of the Morning—a ship which some months ago was burned to the water's edge, and scuttled in Hobson's Bay, In it was a large iron bridge, intended to be erected over the Yarra River at Hawthorne [sic], but it being supposed that it would be entirely destroyed by the fire, the contractors sent home to England for another bridge.

While the firm was negotiating with the Victorian Government to pay £6,000 for the salvaged materials, Ingles made the serious mistake of offering Victoria's Inspector-General of Public Works, Thomas Higinbotham, a two and half per cent commission on the agreed price.

The design and construction work probably benefited from the knowledge and skills obtained by the Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company when building its bridges at Cremorne and Hawthorn in 1860-1.

[7] The State Government was forced to act and, after much debate, the bridge was repaired, strengthened and widened by the Railways Construction Branch, using in-situ electric arc welding.