Gateway Bridge, Brisbane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane. For other uses, see Gateway Bridge (disambiguation).
| Gateway Bridge | |
 |
|
| Official name | Gateway Bridge |
|---|---|
| Carries | Motor vehicles |
| Crosses | Brisbane River |
| Locale | Brisbane, Australia |
| Design | Concrete cantilever Box girder |
| Longest span | 260 metre (853 ft) |
| Total length | 1,627 metre (5,337 ft) |
| Width | 22 metre (72 ft) |
| Opening date | 11 January 1986 |
The Gateway Bridge is at the centre of the Gateway Motorway, which skirts the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the crossing of the Brisbane River closest to Moreton Bay and crosses at the Quarries Reach, between Eagle Farm and Hemmant.
Construction on the Gateway Bridge commenced on 5 June 1980, and was officially commissioned on 11 January 1986.
The bridge owes its distinctive shape to air traffic requirements restricting its height to under 80 metres (263 ft) above sea level (all features of the bridge including light poles) while shipping needs needed a navigational clearance of 55 metres (180 ft).
Uniquely, the construction of the bridge started before the design was completed, to fast track the construction of the bridge.
The bridge has six lanes (three in each direction). The bridge was financed by funds borrowed by the Queensland State Government, and as a result, users of the bridge pay a toll on the southern side of the Brisbane River. The Bridge is operated and maintained by Queensland Motorways, which is a Queensland Government-owned enterprise.
In 2005, a major upgrade of the Gateway Motorway was announced. The project, which will cost $1.6 billion, will include the construction of a second bridge over the Brisbane River. The new bridge will be built further downstream from the present-day Gateway Bridge and will be an exact copy of the existing bridge. The new bridge will be financed by a toll. The toll will be completely electronic, hence no cash booths will be present. The second bridge will be completed by 2011.
[edit] Statistics
- Opened: 11 January 1986
- Total length: 1,627 metres (5,337 ft) in length. This is divided into a southern approach of 376 metres (1,234 ft), a northern approach of 731 metres (2,398 ft) and the three central spans of 520 metres (1,706 ft).
- Main span: 260 metres (853 ft) long X 64.5 metres (212 ft) high (Equivalent to a 20 storey building)
- 150,000 tonnes (165,346 t) of concrete
- Operated by: Queensland Motorways
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Queensland Motorways Website
- Mapping information for bridge:
