Bridges over the Brisbane River

The Brisbane River, running through Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is crossed by fifteen major bridges, from the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges downstream to the Centenary upstream. The river meanders through an urban area that comprises 1.8 million people.

There are two smaller crossings in the west of Brisbane City in the suburb of Mount Crosby: the Mount Crosby Weir, and Colleges Crossing (which straddles the boundary between Brisbane and Ipswich).

Planning

A bridge downstream of the Victoria Bridge was part of a larger plan, devised by Professor Roger Hawken of the University of Queensland in the 1920s, for a series of bridges over the Brisbane River to alleviate congestion on Victoria Bridge and to divert traffic away from the Brisbane central business district. The William Jolly Bridge was the first of the Hawken Plan bridges to be constructed. Lack of funds precluded the construction of the downstream bridge at that time. Initially plans called for a transporter bridge further downstream near New Farm.

In 1926 Kangaroo Point was recommended by the Brisbane City Council's Cross River Commission.[1] Subsequently the bridge was constructed as a public works program during the Great Depression. The cost was to be no more than ₤1.6 million.[2]

Major bridges

# Name Usage Description Photo
1 Sir Leo Hielscher (two bridges)
original bridge formerly known as the
Gateway Bridge
vehicles, cyclists
& pedestrians
Original bridge opened January 1986.
Duplicate bridge opened May 2010.
Concrete box girder design.
260 metre (853 ft) main span.[3]
Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges
2 Story vehicles &
pedestrians
Opened July 1940.
Steel truss design.
777 metres (2,549 ft) long with a 282 metre (925 ft) main span.[4]
3 Captain Cook vehicles Opened 1972.
Concrete box girder design.
555 metres (1,821 ft) long with 183 metre (600 ft) main span.[5]
4 Goodwill pedestrians
& cyclists
Opened October 2001.
450 metres (1,476 ft) long with 102 metre (335 ft) main span.[6]
5 Victoria vehicles, cyclists
& pedestrians
Opened 1969.
Replaced its namesake.
146.3 metre (480 ft) main span.[7]
6 Kurilpa pedestrians
& cyclists
Opened October 2009.
'Tensegrity' design.
425m long pathway[8]
7 William Jolly
also known as
Grey Street Bridge
vehicles & pedestrians Opened March 1932.
Concrete arch design.
498 metres (1,634 ft) long with a 73 metre (240 ft) main span.[9]
8 Merivale rail Opened November 1978.
Tied steel arch design.
Main span 132 metre (433 ft).[10]
9 Go Between
formerly known as
Hale Street Link.
vehicles, cyclists
& pedestrians
Opened 5 July 2010.
Concrete box girder balanced cantilever design.[11]
10 Eleanor Schonell
formerly known as
Green Bridge.
buses, cyclists
& pedestrians
Opened December 2006.
Cable-stayed design.
390 metres (1,280 ft) long.[12]
11 Jack Pesch cyclists
& pedestrians
Opened October 1998.
Steel cable-stay design.[13]
12 Albert rail Opened 1895.
Steel truss design.
Replaced its namesake.
208 metres (682 ft) long with two spans each 103.7 metres (340 ft).[14]
13 Indooroopilly Railway rail Opened 1957.
Steel truss design.
208.5 metres (684 ft) long with two equal spans.[15]
14 Walter Taylor vehicles &
pedestrians
Opened February 1936.
Suspension design.
Main span 183 metres (600 ft).
The bridge's towers are occupied.[16]
15 Centenary vehicles, cyclists
& pedestrians
Opened in 1964.
Concrete girder[17]

Map

Map of Bridges across the Brisbane River
Legend

Future bridges

In 2007 the Smart State Council announced plans for a series of new green mode bridges for Brisbane. New bridges include;

These new bridges will create a greenway corridor over 5 green bridges from Morningside, through Hawthorne, Teneriffe, New Farm, Kangaroo Point, City, Northbank, South Bank, Dutton Park and Boggo Road to the University of Queensland.[18]

Crossings between the Centenary Bridge and Wivenhoe Dam

In addition to the existing bridges between Centenary Bridge and Wivenhoe Dam a number of others have been proposed.

The Goodna Bypass is designed to relieve congestion on the Ipswich Motorway and will have four new bridges over the river (but no access to or from the north-western suburbs). Land acquisitions were underway in 2010 to create the future transport corridor.[19] As of 2010, there is no date or funding provided to commence the construction of the Goodna Bypass.

The Western Bypass would have included a crossing of the river but has been cancelled.[20]

The existing crossings on this section of the river are listed below[21] (note: coordinates are derived from Google Earth).

Name of crossing and/or road Coordinates Description and/or purpose Photo
Moggill Ferry 27°35′41″S 152°51′22″E / 27.59472°S 152.85611°E Links Riverview to Moggill
Moggill ferry, 2008
Mount Crosby Road at Colleges Crossing 27°33′25″S 152°48′15″E / 27.55694°S 152.80417°E Links North Tivoli to Mount Crosby
College's Crossing, 2012
Allawah Road across Mount Crosby Weir 27°32′14″S 152°43′47″E / 27.53722°S 152.72972°E Adjacent to Mount Crosby Pumping Station
Bridge at the Mount Crosby Pumping Station, circa 1950
Kholo Bridge, Kholo Road 27°33′54.10″S 152°44′51.61″E / 27.5650278°S 152.7476694°E Links North Ipswich to Kholo
Pipeline being laid beside the Kholo Bridge, 1922
McMullen Road (ford, no longer used) Links Borallon to farms at Lake Manchester
Summervilles Road (Burtons Bridge) 27°29′58″S 152°41′22″E / 27.49944°S 152.68944°E Links Borallon to farms at Lake Manchester, near Lake Manchester Dam
Summerville Road East crossing, 2014
Banks Creek Road (Savages Crossing) 27°26′37″S 152°40′13″E / 27.44361°S 152.67028°E Links Fernvale to farms at Banks Creek
Savages Crossing, 2014
Brisbane Valley Highway 27°25′51″S 152°38′22″E / 27.43083°S 152.63944°E Between Fernvale and Wivenhoe Dam, taking the highway east of the river
Brisbane Valley Highway crossing, 2014
Wivenhoe Pocket Road (Twin Bridges) 27°26′13″S 152°38′00″E / 27.43694°S 152.63333°E Links Fernvale to farms in Wivenhoe Pocket, crossing the river via an island
Wivenhoe Pocket Road crossing, 2014
Brisbane Valley Highway across Wivenhoe Dam 27°23′40″S 152°36′33″E / 27.39444°S 152.60917°E The highway runs on top of the dam wall for 2.3 kilometres
Dam wall and main gates

Crossings from Lake Wivenhoe to Moore

Along the Brisbane River near Wivenhoe Bridge, 1917
Construction of a bridge over the Brisbane River at Allery's Crossing (Arababy Creek Road), Moore, 1931

When Lake Wivenhoe is full the waters extend many kilometres up the river.[21] The first crossing upstream from the lake is a high level bridge built in conjunction with the dam to raise the Esk Kilcoy Road well above the maximum level of the lake. Several minor crossings of this section of the river shown on maps are omitted from the list below. The omitted crossings belong to one of the following groups:

The more significant crossings from Lake Wivenhoe to Moore are listed below.

Name of crossing and/or road Coordinates Description and/or purpose Photo
Esk Kilcoy Road 27°08′18″S 152°30′36″E / 27.13833°S 152.51000°E Links Esk to Kilcoy via Somerset Dam
Gregors Creek Road 26°59′14″S 152°23′54″E / 26.98722°S 152.39833°E Links Brisbane Valley Highway to farms at Gregors Creek and provides an alternate route to Kilcoy
D'Aguilar Highway 26°56′39″S 152°21′33″E / 26.94417°S 152.35917°E Links Brisbane Valley Highway to Kilcoy

Upstream from Moore

Linville Road follows the river from Moore through Linville to the Mount Stanley State Forest.[21] It crosses the river 12 times between Linville and its end, where it splits into Western Branch Road and Eastern Branch Road. Western Branch Road follows the west branch of the river to its source in Elgin Vale State Forest, north-west of Mount Stanley, crossing it 28 times. Eastern Branch Road follows the east branch most of the way to its source south-east of Mount Stanley, crossing it about 20 times before it ends.

See also

For information about tunnels which cross the Brisbane River, please check the Brisbane River page.

References

  1. Gregory, Helen (2007). Brisbane Then and Now. Wingfield, South Australia: Salamander Books. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-74173-011-1.
  2. Hacker, D. R. (1999). Petries Bight: a Slice of Brisbane History. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Queensland Women's Historical Association Inc. pp. 4546. ISBN 0-9590271-8-1.
  3. Structurae: Gateway Bridge (1986), retrieved 2008-11-26
  4. Structurae: Story Bridge (1940), retrieved 2008-11-26
  5. Structurae: Captain Cook Bridge (1972), retrieved 2008-11-26
  6. Structurae: Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge, retrieved 2008-11-26
  7. Structurae: Victoria Bridge (1969), retrieved 2008-11-26
  8. Department of Public Works: Kurilpa Bridge, retrieved 2009-03-16
  9. Structurae: William Jolly Bridge (1932), retrieved 2008-11-26
  10. Structurae: Merivale Bridge (1978), retrieved 2008-11-26
  11. Hale Street Link, retrieved 2010-06-20
  12. Structurae: Eleanor Schonell Bridge (2006), retrieved 2008-11-26
  13. Structurae: Jack Pesch Bridge (1998), retrieved 2008-11-26
  14. Structurae: Albert Bridge (1893), retrieved 2008-11-26
  15. Queensland State Archives Series ID 18136, Indooroopilly Railway Bridge Plans, retrieved 2008-11-26
  16. Structurae: Walter Taylor Bridge (1936), retrieved 2008-11-26
  17. Structurae: Centenary Bridge, retrieved 2008-11-26
  18. Ministerial Media Statements, July 15, 2007, retrieved 2008-11-26
  19. Nation Building Program National Projects Goodna Bypass Land Acquisition (accessed 19 September)
  20. "Western Brisbane Transport Network Strategy". Queensland Government. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 "Google maps Australia". Google. Retrieved 9 September 2010.

External links