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Centenary Bridge, Brisbane
The Centenary Bridge is the thirteenth crossing of the Brisbane River. As it forms part of Brisbane's Centenary Freeway it is used primarily by vehicular traffic, although it includes footpaths for pedestrian traffic.
Built to service the new "Centenary" suburbs of Jindalee, Mount Ommaney and Westlake, the bridge was originally only two lanes wide (one lane either direction). It was subsequently duplicated in the 1980s.
During the 1974 floods, the bridge was badly damaged when a barge rammed into its upstream side. The barge blocked the flow of floodwaters under the bridge and there were real fears that the bridge would collapse. The barge was deliberately holed using explosives and allowed to sink to reduce the floodwater pressure on the bridge. When the floodwater receded the barge was refloated and beached downstream near Fig Tree Pocket to be cut up for scrap. The damage sustained by the bridge required its partial closure for repairs. For two years after the floods, the bridge was reduced to a single lane, with one way traffic controlled by traffic lights at each end of the bridge.
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