What is being touted as Brisbane’s newest centrepiece, the Neville Bonner Bridge has touched down at Queen’s Wharf.
Following two years of construction, the final deck section of the 320-metre pedestrian bridge over the Brisbane River was installed at the end of February.
With a 75-metre-high mast above the river and joining the vibrant cultural precinct of South Bank to the Queensland capital’s CBD, the Neville Bonner Bridge is forecast to carry 10,000 pedestrian crossings per day.
Destination Brisbane Consortium Project Director, Simon Crooks, said this last deck unit weighs 20 tonnes and is 10 metres in length.
“More than 1000 tonnes of complex fabricated structural steel together with the suspended and cable-stayed elements has been formed into what is undoubtedly Brisbane’s newest river centrepiece,” he said.
Mr Crooks revealed that the majority of the bridge’s construction has taken place from cranes positioned on river barges, with the project managers working closely with marine authorities, numerous overnight installations reduced impacts to Brisbane’s growing river traffic.
The Neville Bonner Bridge was named in honour of Australia’s first federal Indigenous parliamentarian and politician who was an elder of the Jagera People from the Tweed River region close to the Queensland border.
Work on the bridge will continue with lighting, paving, shading elements, and side facade panel installation as well as safety testing ahead of an expected opening mid-2023.
About the author
Desi Corbett
Desi is the Editor of Concrete in Australia and at the helm of our magazine for 8 years. She was behind the Institute's weekly news bulletins from 2016-2021 and is now writing our focused news items. Desi has been an engineering news and features journalist/editor across all disciplines since 2013 - part of a 30-year career writing for a wide range of industries.