Story Bridge

Coordinates: 27°27′49″S 153°02′09″E / 27.4635°S 153.0358°E / -27.4635; 153.0358
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Story Bridge
Coordinates27°27′49″S 153°02′09″E / 27.4635°S 153.0358°E / -27.4635; 153.0358
CarriesMotor vehicles and pedestrians
CrossesBrisbane River
LocaleBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
Official nameStory Bridge
Characteristics
DesignSteel cantilever
Total length777 metres (2,549 ft)
Width24 metres (79 ft)
Height74 metres (243 ft)
Longest span282 metres (925 ft)
Clearance below30.4 metres (100 ft) at mid-span
History
Opened6 July 1940; 83 years ago (1940-07-06)
Location
Map
Map
Story Bridge

The Story Bridge is a

longest cantilever bridge in Australia.[1]

The road across the bridge is named Bradfield Highway. The bridge connects

Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. The Story Bridge opened in 1940 and was tolled until 1947. It is named after prominent public servant John Douglas Story.[1]

History

Given the early settlement of

Brisbane Town Hall to demand a bridge connecting either George Street, Albert Street or Edward Street via the City Botanic Gardens with any loss of the land from the gardens to be potentially compensated by removing Government House.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

Plans for the "Brisbane River Bridge", c. 1934

Construction

The bridge under construction.

Before the opening of the

Government of Queensland asked John Bradfield to design a new bridge in Brisbane.[citation needed
]

The Queensland Government appointed

Hornibrook Constructions, won the tender with a bid of £1,150,000.[6][7]

Sir Leslie Orme Wilson
and consulting engineer Bradfield inspecting the bridge, 7 July 1938

Construction on the bridge began on 24 May 1935,

Premier of Queensland, William Forgan Smith. Components for the bridge were fabricated in a purpose-built factory at Rocklea. There are 1.25 million rivets (metal pins or bolts) in the Story Bridge.[8] During its construction, work sometimes continued 24 hours per day.[5] The bridge has only one pier on the northern bank but two piers on the lower southern bank, one to bear the weight (the main pier) and, further to the south, one to prevent the bridge from twisting (the anchor pier). There was no need for an anchor pier on the northern bank as the bridge was anchored into schist cliff face. The primary challenge in constructing the bridge was the southern foundations that went 40 metres (130 ft) below ground level. It was not possible to excavate to that level as water from the river would rapidly seep in. So a pneumatic caisson technique had to be used. As men were working under pressures of up to 4 times normal air pressure, a decompression period of almost 2 hours was needed at the end of each shift to avoid the bends. An on-site air lock hospital successfully treated the 65 cases of the bends that occurred.[7] On 28 October 1939 the gap between the two sides was closed.[6] A concrete decking was then laid, covered by a Trinidad pitch topping. The bridge was painted and sodium lighting was installed. The bridge approaches were also prepared.[7]

Three men died during the construction of the bridge.[9] On 22 November 1937, Hans James Zimmerman slipped and fell 75 feet (23 m) to the ground.[10] On 7 February 1939, Alfred William Jackson fell from the bridge into the river. Although pulled from the water alive, he died 4 hours later in hospital without regaining consciousness.[11] On 6 December 1939, Arthur McKay (Max) Wharton was hit by a piece of equipment on a nerve that made him faint, falling from the bridge to the water; 18 months earlier Wharton saved another worker from falling from the bridge.[12]

Construction of a new underpass was begun on the southside in 2023 to facilitate access to the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.[1]

Panorama showing the location of the Story Bridge (left) relative to the Brisbane CBD.

Naming

Until it was completed, the bridge was known as the Jubilee Bridge in honour of

Governor of Queensland and named after John Douglas Story, a senior and influential public servant who had advocated strongly for the bridge's construction.[6]

Operations

Time-lapse of Brisbane and Story Bridge
Toll booth, 1941
Story Bridge with the Brisbane skyline in the background.

The bridge carries an average of 97,000 vehicles each day.

Bradfield Highway that spans the Sydney Harbour Bridge
.

Initially a toll of sixpence (5 cents) was charged to use the bridge,

Brisbane City Council
used the bridge.

Following completion of the bridge, an expressway was constructed on the southern side of the bridge (opened 18 May 1970),[15] and a tunnel/loop was constructed at Kemp Place on the northern side (completed 10 July 1972).[16]

Maintenance

Riverfire
at Story Bridge

Resurfacing works were undertaken in 1994.[17]

The Story Bridge was closed to traffic from midnight of Friday 3 January 2014 until 5.30 a.m. Monday, 6 January 2014, for essential maintenance work of resurfacing all six lanes.[18][19]

Closure for maintenance occurred again from 9 p.m. Friday 27 April 2018 until 5 a.m. Monday 30 April 2018.[20]

Role in contemporary Brisbane

The Story Bridge features prominently in the annual

Riverfire fireworks display and is illuminated at night. In 1990, road traffic was halted so pedestrians could celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bridge's construction.[5] The bridge was again closed to road traffic on 5 July 2015 to celebrate the 75th anniversary. The celebration attracted almost 75,000 visitors to the bridge who enjoyed food, drink and entertainment as they walked across lanes usually reserved for vehicles.[21]

Bridge climbs began in 2005 and have become a popular tourist attraction.[22]

A picture of the bridge featured on Brisbane Bitter.[23]

Suicides

Similar to many large bridges such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Brisbane's Story Bridge has become notorious as a suicide hotspot.[24] Following two high-profile murder-suicides from the bridge in 2011 and 2012, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced plans to install free telephones linked to suicide prevention hotlines.[24] On 6 February 2013, Quirk announced plans to install a three-metre-high safety barrier. Overall the plan cost about $8.4 million and was completed in December 2015.[25]

Heritage listing

The bridge was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.[26]

In 1988, the bridge received a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia.[27]

In 2009 as part of the

Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a "structure and engineering feat".[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Moore, Tony (22 May 2023). "New walkway to link Story Bridge to city heart". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. The Brisbane Courier
    . |date=16 March 1865 |access-date=6 August 2015 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
  3. The Telegraph
    . Brisbane. 3 November 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 6 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-74173-011-1
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-9590271-8-1
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-908175-41-8
    .
  7. ^ a b c 'Story Bridge: Idea to Icon' by Michael Moy, published Alpha Orion Press, Brisbane, 2005
  8. ^ "Your Brisbane Bridge Climb Questions Answered!". Story Bridge Adventure Climb. 10 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Bridge Cost Three Men Their Lives". The Courier-Mail. No. 2129. Brisbane. 29 June 1940. p. 18. Retrieved 8 June 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. Queensland Times
    . Vol. LXXVIII, no. 15, 915. 23 November 1937. p. 7 (DAILY.). Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "CARPENTER FALLS FROM STORY BRIDGE". The Central Queensland Herald. Vol. 10, no. 477. 9 February 1939. p. 41. Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. The Telegraph
    . Brisbane. 6 December 1939. p. 1 (CITY FINAL LAST MINUTE NEWS). Retrieved 3 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ Kim Stephens & Cameron Atfield (2 January 2014). "Heatwave could see Brisbane reach 40 degrees". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  14. ISBN 978-1-876091-60-6
    .
  15. ^ Leighton Holdings Newsletter Archived 30 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, June 1970
  16. ^ Leighton Holdings Newsletter Archived 30 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, August 1972
  17. ^ Atfield, Cameron (4 January 2014). "Bridge crew have a hot Story to tell". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  18. ^ Tin, Jason (4 January 2014). "Story Bridge to close for roadworks the first weekend of 2014". The Courier-Mail. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Story Bridge resurfacing works". Brisbane City Council. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  20. ^ Hyam, Rebecca (27 April 2018). "Story Bridge water damage prompts two-day closure for repairs to southern approach". ABC News. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  21. ^ Atfield, Cameron (5 July 2015). "Thousands flock to Story Bridge 75th birthday celebrations". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  22. ^ Hutchinson, Amy (6 July 2010). "Seventy years on, Story Bridge still going strong". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  23. ISBN 9781850760009
    .
  24. ^ a b "Brisbane Times news article". 21 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  25. ^ "Safety barriers for Story Bridge". 6 February 2013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  26. ^ "Story Bridge (entry 600240)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Story Bridge, Brisbane River, 1940–". Engineers Australia. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  28. ^ Bligh, Anna (10 June 2009). "PREMIER UNVEILS QUEENSLAND'S 150 ICONS". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Story Bridge, Brisbane.
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