Go Between Bridge Spans River
03 December, 2009
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman’s Go Between Bridge now spans the Brisbane River after the final section of concrete was poured on the bridge deck today.
Cr Newman said the 300 metre long deck for the bridge, which links Milton and South Brisbane, actually consisted of two separate decks, which took eight months to construct.
Special machinery, known as a Modular Form Traveller, was used to hold the bridge in place as workers installed 94 five metre-long concrete segments.
The Lord Mayor said 1000 tonnes of steel and 5300 cubic metres of concrete would be used in the construction of the bridge, which would be Brisbane’s first inner-city traffic bridge in 40 years when it opened in mid 2010.
“This bridge will add another four vital traffic lanes across the river, which is essential for motorists because our 32 existing traffic lanes are at 95 per cent capacity,” he said.
“The CLEM7 tunnel from Woolloongabba to Bowen Hills will provide another four traffic lanes under the river when it opens early next year.
“These additional traffic lanes are essential for motorists wanting to cross the river because at the moment they are forced into the CBD and our research has found that a lot of people travelling through the CBD do not want to actually go to the CBD.”
The Lord Mayor thanked motorists for their patience with traffic delays on Coronation Drive caused by the construction of an overpass linked with the project.
He said work had progressed so quickly there that the overpass could be open as early as the Christmas-New Year period, and Coronation Drive would return to normal.
The next step for bridge workers would be to construct a dedicated bikepath on the western side of the bridge and a pedestrian pathway on the eastern side of the bridge. A bikeway at the southern end of the bridge has already been completed.
The bridge is scheduled to open to motorists mid 2010.
The $370 million Go Between toll bridge is one of the Lord Mayor’s major ‘TransApex’ bridge and tunnel projects, designed to help traffic bypass Brisbane’s CBD.
Other projects in the Lord Mayor’s TransApex program include:
• CLEM7 tunnel from Woolloongabba to Bowen Hills
• Northern Link (from the Western Freeway at Toowong to the Inner City Bypass)
• Airport Link (from Woolloongabba to the East-West Arterial at Toombul)
• East-West Link (from the Pacific Motorway at Buranda to the Western Freeway).
[Ends] December 3, 2009
