Captain Cook Bridge, Sydney | |
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Coordinates | 34°00′29″S151°07′39″E / 34.00794444°S 151.1276083°E |
Carries | Taren Point / Rocky Point Roads |
Crosses | Georges River |
Locale | Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Named for | Captain James Cook |
Owner | Transport for NSW |
Preceded by | Tom Uglys Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Box girder |
Material | Precast prestressed concrete |
Total length | 506 metres (1,660 ft) |
Width | 27.5 metres (90 ft) |
No. of spans | 7 |
No. of lanes |
|
History | |
Constructed by | John Holland Group |
Construction start | 1962 |
Construction end | 1965 |
Construction cost | A$3 million |
Opened | 29 May 1965 |
Replaces | Punt
|
Location | |
References | |
[1] |
The Captain Cook Bridge is a road bridge that carries Taren Point and Rocky Point Roads across the Georges River in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The precast prestressed concrete girder bridge crosses near the river mouth as it empties into Botany Bay; and links the St George and Sutherland areas of Sydney. The bridge comprises a dual carriageway with three lanes in each direction of highway grade-separated conditions; and pedestrian and bicycle traffic, via two grade-separated paths. on the eastern and western sides of the bridge.
The Captain Cook Bridge consists of seven spans totalling 475 metres (1,558 ft) in length, with a 506-metre (1,660 ft) long deck that is 27.5 metres (90 ft) wide with six traffic lanes and two shared bicycle and pedestrian paths. Its foundations extend as deep as 67 metres (220 ft) below water level to its sandstone base. The bridge was opened on 29 May 1965 [1] and links Rocky Point Road at Sans Souci in the St George area to Taren Point Road at Taren Point in the Sutherland Shire. Loop walkways run under the bridge at both sides and provide access along the foreshore.
The bridge was designed by a team of engineers from the Department of Main Roads (DMR) led by Albert Fried. The DMR's Resident Engineer for the construction was Ray Wedgwood, who was later the Chief Bridge Engineer for the Roads and Traffic Authority. The main contractor was John Holland Group. [2]
The bridge is the easternmost of the seven major crossings of Georges River. The others are Tom Uglys Bridge, which opened in 1929, Alfords Point Bridge (1973, duplicated 2008), M5 Milperra bridge (1992), Milperra Bridge (replacement bridge 1966), Liverpool Bridge (replacement bridge 1958), and M5 Casula bridge (1985, widened 1988).
The Captain Cook Bridge is the only section of the planned F6 Freeway that has been built in the Sydney metropolitan area, with the other built sections being between Waterfall and Bulli Tops and further south between Gwynneville and Yallah. [1] On the southern approach the two carriageways of the approach road diverge to allow for construction of a future interchange to also carry freeway traffic to and from the bridge.
The speed limit on the bridge and the 1 km (0.62 miles) of freeway on the southern approach is 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph).
The bridge was designed to have the capacity to carry 30,000 vehicles on a weekday, but in 2015 the bridge was estimated to be carrying 30,600 vehicles per weekday. [3]
A ferry service ran between Sans Souci and Taren Point from 1911. From April 1916 a vehicular punt ran between the two points, [4] and continued to do so even after the opening of the Tom Uglys Bridge in 1929.
The Captain Cook Bridge is named in honour of Captain James Cook, a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy, who landed at nearby Kurnell on 29 April 1770, during his first voyage of discovery aboard the Endeavour . [5]
A big part of commissioning construction of the Captain Cook Bridge in 1962 was that the nearby three-laned Tom Ugly's Bridge was carrying more traffic than any three lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the Taren Point punt was at full capacity carrying 1000 cars daily. [3]
The Georges River, also known as Tucoerah River, is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, that is located in Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Georges River is located south and south-west from the Sydney CBD, with the mouth of the river being at Botany Bay.
Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hill, in New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name, the bridge is not in Gladesville.
The Sydney Orbital Network is a 110 kilometre motorway standard ring road around and through Sydney, the capital of New South Wales in Australia. It runs north from Sydney Airport, underneath the CBD to the North Shore, west to the Hills District, south to Prestons and then east to connect with the airport. Much of the road is privately owned and financed by tolls.
Princes Motorway is a 62-kilometre (39 mi) predominantly dual carriage untolled motorway that links Sydney to Wollongong and further south through the Illawarra region to Oak Flats. Part of the Australian Highway 1 network, the motorway is designated route M1.
The Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for major road infrastructure, licensing of drivers, and registration of motor vehicles. The RTA directly managed state roads and provided funding to local councils for regional and local roads. In addition, with assistance from the federal government, the RTA also managed the NSW national highway system. The agency was abolished in 2011 and replaced by Roads & Maritime Services.
Sans Souci is a Southern Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sans Souci is 17 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the Bayside Council and the Georges River Council. It is part of the St George area.
Taren Point is a small waterfront suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 18 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire.
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The M5 Motorway is a 28.8-kilometre (17.9 mi) series of tolled motorways located in Sydney, New South Wales designated as route M5. It is part of the Sydney Orbital Network.
Tom Uglys Bridge are two road bridges, completed in 1929 and 1987, that carry the Princes Highway across the Georges River in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The bridges link the St George area at Blakehurst to the Sutherland Shire at Sylvania. Tom Uglys Bridge is one of six major road crossings of Georges River.
Alfords Point Bridge is a twin 445-metre-long (1,460 ft) concrete and steel box girder road bridge that carries Alford Point Road as state route A6 across the lower Georges River between Padstow Heights in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown and Alfords Point in the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Taren Point Road is a major road found in Taren Point and Caringbah, New South Wales, Australia.
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