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 2,562,000 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	Suburbs	Photo
1	Sir Leo Hielscher (two bridges) — original bridge formerly known as the Gateway Bridge	vehicles, cyclists & pedestrians	Original bridge opened January 1986 by the Duke of Edinburgh Duplicate bridge opened May 2010. Concrete box girder design. 260 metre (853 ft) main span. [3]	Eagle Farm (north) to Murarrie (south)	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]	Fortitude Valley (north) to Kangaroo Point (south)	Story Bridge
3	Captain Cook	vehicles	Opened 1972. Concrete box girder design. 555 metres (1,821 ft) long with 183 metre (600 ft) main span. [5]	Brisbane City (north) to Kangaroo Point (south)	Captain Cook Bridge
4	Goodwill	pedestrians & cyclists	Opened October 2001. 450 metres (1,476 ft) long with 102 metre (335 ft) main span. [6]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	Goodwill Bridge
5	Victoria	buses, cyclists & pedestrians	Opened 1969. Replaced its namesake. 146.3 metre (480 ft) main span. [7]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	Victoria Bridge
6	Kurilpa	pedestrians & cyclists	Opened October 2009. 'Tensegrity' design. 425m long pathway [8]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	Kurilpa Bridge
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]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	William Jolly Bridge
8	Merivale	rail	Opened November 1978. Tied steel arch design. Main span 132 metre (433 ft). [10]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	Merivale Bridge
9	Go Between — formerly known as Hale Street Link	vehicles, cyclists & pedestrians	Opened 5 July 2010. Concrete box girder balanced cantilever design. [11]	Brisbane City (north) to South Brisbane (south)	Go Between Bridge
10	Eleanor Schonell — formerly known as Green Bridge	buses, cyclists & pedestrians	Opened December 2006. Cable-stayed design. 390 metres (1,280 ft) long. [12]	St Lucia (north) to Dutton Park (south)	Eleanor Schonell Bridge
11	Jack Pesch	cyclists & pedestrians	Opened October 1998. Steel cable-stay design. [13]	Indooroopilly (north) to Chelmer (south)	Jack Pesch Bridge
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]	Indooroopilly (north) to Chelmer (south)	Albert Bridge
13	Indooroopilly Railway	rail	Opened 1957. Steel truss design. 208.5 metres (684 ft) long with two equal spans. [15]	Indooroopilly (north) to Chelmer (south)	Indooroopilly Railway Bridge
14	Walter Taylor	vehicles & pedestrians	Opened February 1936. Suspension design. Main span 183 metres (600 ft). The bridge's towers are occupied. [16]	Indooroopilly (north) to Chelmer (south)	Walter Taylor Bridge
15	Centenary	vehicles, cyclists & pedestrians	Original bridge opened in 1964. Duplicate bridge opened in 1986. Concrete girder [17]	Kenmore, Fig Tree Pocket (north) to Jindalee (south)	Centenary Bridge

Map

Map of Bridges across the Brisbane River
Legend

   Brisbane River and Moreton Bay

   Road bridges

   Rail bridges

   Pedestrian only bridges

   Bus and pedestrian only bridges

Future bridges

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

• a connection from Alice Street near the Port Office Hotel in the City to Thornton Street, Kangaroo Point.
• from Cairns Street, Kangaroo Point a new bridge will connect to the end of the floating riverwalk at Merthyr Road, New Farm.
• and from Merthyr Road, Teneriffe a new bridge will connect to Hardcaste Park, Hawthorne (near Lindsay Street).

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]

The Queen's Wharf development will establish the Neville Bonner Bridge between the Queen's Wharf precinct in the Brisbane central business district to the South Bank Parklands in South Brisbane. ^[19]

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. ^[20] 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. ^[21]

The existing crossings on this section of the river are listed below ^[22] (note: coordinates are derived from Google Earth).

Name of crossing and/or road	Coordinates	Description and/or purpose	Photo
Moggill Ferry	27°35′41″S152°51′22″E / 27.59472°S 152.85611°E / -27.59472; 152.85611 (Moggill Ferry)	Moggill (north) to Riverview (south)	Moggill ferry, 2008
Mount Crosby Road at Colleges Crossing	27°33′25″S152°48′15″E / 27.55694°S 152.80417°E / -27.55694; 152.80417 (Colleges Crossing)	Mount Crosby (north) to Chuwar (south)	College's Crossing, 2012
Allawah Road across Mount Crosby Weir	27°29′13″S153°01′00″E / 27.4870°S 153.0167°E / -27.4870; 153.0167 (Mount Crosby Weir)	Mount Crosby (north) to Chuwar (south)	Bridge at the Mount Crosby Pumping Station, circa 1950
Kholo Bridge, Kholo Road	27°33′54.10″S152°44′51.61″E / 27.5650278°S 152.7476694°E / -27.5650278; 152.7476694 (Kholo Bridge)	Kholo (north) to Muirlea, Chuwar (south)	Pipeline being laid beside the Kholo Bridge, 1922
McMullen Road (ford, no longer used)	27°29′41″S152°43′48″E / 27.4946°S 152.7300°E / -27.4946; 152.7300 (McMullen Road ford)	Lake Manchester (north) to Pine Mountain (south)
Summervilles Road (Burtons Bridge)	27°29′58″S152°41′22″E / 27.49944°S 152.68944°E / -27.49944; 152.68944 (Burtons Bridge)	Borallon (north) to Wanora, Borallon (south)—Borallon is a locality on both sides of the Brisbane River	Summerville Road East crossing, 2014
Banks Creek Road (Savages Crossing)	27°26′37″S152°40′13″E / 27.44361°S 152.67028°E / -27.44361; 152.67028 (Savages Crossing)	Banks Creek (north) to Fernvale (south)	Savages Crossing, 2014
Brisbane Valley Highway (Geoff Fisher Bridge)	27°25′51″S152°38′22″E / 27.43083°S 152.63944°E / -27.43083; 152.63944 (Brisbane Valley Highway crossing)	Wivenhoe Pocket (north) to Fernvale (south), taking the highway across the river	Brisbane Valley Highway crossing, 2014
Wivenhoe Pocket Road (Twin Bridges)	27°26′13″S152°38′00″E / 27.43694°S 152.63333°E / -27.43694; 152.63333 (Twin Bridges)	Wivenhoe Pocket (north) to Fernvale (south), crossing the river via an island (involving two "twin" bridges)	Wivenhoe Pocket Road crossing, 2014
Brisbane Valley Highway across Wivenhoe Dam	27°23′40″S152°36′33″E / 27.39444°S 152.60917°E / -27.39444; 152.60917 (Winvenhoe Dam crossing)	The highway runs on top of the dam wall for 2.3 kilometres from Lake Wivenhoe (the locality) from north to south (Lake Wivenhoe being on both sides of the river)	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. ^[22] 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:

• Former low level crossings now covered (most of the time) by the waters of Lake Wivenhoe.
• Public or private roads that provide access to farms on the eastern side of the river.
• Private roads or tracks that link parts of farms that are astride the river.

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″S152°30′36″E / 27.13833°S 152.51000°E / -27.13833; 152.51000 (Esk Kilcoy Road)	Lake Wivenhoe (the locality) near Somerset Dam (the locality) (northside) to Lake Winhoe (the locality) near Caboonbah (southside), connects Kilcoy to Esk
Gregors Creek Road	26°59′14″S152°23′54″E / 26.98722°S 152.39833°E / -26.98722; 152.39833 (Gregors Creek Road)	Gregors Creek (near Woolmar) northside to Gregors Creek (near Yimbun) southside, Links Brisbane Valley Highway to farms atand provides an alternate route to Kilcoy
D'Aguilar Highway	26°56′39″S152°21′33″E / 26.94417°S 152.35917°E / -26.94417; 152.35917 (D'Aguilar Highway)	Harlin (near Woolmar) northside to Harlin (near Colinton) southside, links Brisbane Valley Highway to Kilcoy

Upstream from Moore

Linville Road follows the river from Moore through Linville to the Mount Stanley State Forest. ^[22] 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

• List of bridges in Brisbane

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. 45–46. ISBN   0-9590271-8-1.
3. Structurae: Gateway Bridge (1986), archived from the original on 20 October 2013, retrieved 26 November 2008
4. Structurae: Story Bridge (1940), archived from the original on 7 October 2006, retrieved 26 November 2008
5. Structurae: Captain Cook Bridge (1972), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
6. Structurae: Goodwill Pedestrian Bridge, archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
7. Structurae: Victoria Bridge (1969), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
8. Department of Public Works: Kurilpa Bridge, archived from the original on 4 May 2009, retrieved 16 March 2009
9. Structurae: William Jolly Bridge (1932), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
10. Structurae: Merivale Bridge (1978), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
11. Hale Street Link, archived from the original on 19 July 2008, retrieved 20 June 2010
12. Structurae: Eleanor Schonell Bridge (2006), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
13. Structurae: Jack Pesch Bridge (1998), archived from the original on 27 May 2013, retrieved 26 November 2008
14. Structurae: Albert Bridge (1893), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
15. Queensland State Archives Series ID 18136, Indooroopilly Railway Bridge Plans, archived from the original on 13 October 2009, retrieved 26 November 2008
16. Structurae: Walter Taylor Bridge (1936), archived from the original on 9 February 2024, retrieved 26 November 2008
17. Structurae: Centenary Bridge , retrieved 26 November 2008
18. Ministerial Media Statements, 15 July 2007, archived from the original on 16 July 2011, retrieved 26 November 2008
19. "Neville Bonner Bridge". Queen's Wharf Brisbane. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
20. Nation Building Program National Projects Goodna Bypass Land Acquisition Archived 2011-02-25 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 19 September)
21. "Western Brisbane Transport Network Strategy". Queensland Government. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
22. "Google maps Australia". Google. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2010.

External links

• Historical Brisbane River Map - shows the positions of Brisbane bridges on the river
• Images of Brisbane bridges - a slideshow of historical images of Brisbane bridges from Picture Queensland, State Library of Queensland