Story Bridge, Brisbane

Infobox Bridge

---

bridge_name=Story Bridge
official_name=Story Bridge
locale=Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
carries=Motor vehicles and pedestrians
crosses=Brisbane River
open=6 July 1940
below=30.4 metres (99.7 ft) at mid-span
design=Steel cantilever
mainspan=282 metres (925 ft)
length=777 metres (2,549 ft)
width=

The Story Bridge is a cantilever bridge and the second crossing of the Brisbane River. Part of Bradfield Highway (15), [ [http://maps.google.com.au Google Maps Australia] ] it connects Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. Before the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 the Government of Queensland asked John Bradfield to design a new Brisbane bridge. It is named for John Douglas Story.

History

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.

Subsequently the bridge was constructed as a public works program during the Great Depression. Construction began on the bridge on 24 May 1935, with the first sod being turned by the then Premier of Queensland, William Forgan Smith. It was opened on 6 July 1940 by Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, Governor of Queensland and named for John Douglas Story, a senior and influential public servant.

The design for the bridge was based heavily on that of the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.Fact|date=February 2007

The Story Bridge features prominently in the annual Riverfire display and is illuminated at night. Bridge climbs began in 2005 and are becoming a major tourist attraction.

Operations

The Story Bridge carries three lanes of traffic in either direction as well as a shared pedestrian and cycle way flanking each side. The road on the bridge is called the Bradfield Highway, and is the shortest highway in Australia. It is not to be confused with the Bradfield Highway that spans the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Initially a toll was charged to use the bridge, with toll booths constructed at the southern end of the Bradfield Highway. Between 1952 and 1969 trolley-buses operated by the Brisbane City Council used the bridge.

Gallery

ee also

*Bridges of Brisbane
*North-South Bypass Tunnel, Brisbane
*Jacques-Cartier Bridge

References

*cite web
url=http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/chims/placeDetail.html;jsessionid=7f00000130d8b1e15b3b42b947869ae7a0224eccea08.e34NaN8SbNyKci0LaNmPbhqOaxuOe6fznA5Pp7ftolbGmkTy?siteId=15015
title=Queensland Heritage Register: Story Bridge
publisher=www.epa.qld.gov.au
accessdate=2008-09-10
*

External links

* [http://enc.slq.qld.gov.au/logicrouter/servlet/LogicRouter?PAGE=object&OUTPUTXSL=object_enc36ui.xslt&pm_RC=PICTQLD&pm_OI=8011&pm_GT=Y&pm_IAC=Y&api_1=GET_OBJECT_XML&num_result=1 Story Bridge under construction, 1939] This photo is held by John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number: 185055
* [http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:STANDARD:2123237717:pc=PC_1198 Brisbane City Council - Captain Burke Park under the Bridge]
* [http://www.ourbrisbane.com/inbrief/photos/thumbnails.php?album=search&type=full&search=story+bridge ourbrisbane.com image search for Story Bridge]
* [http://www.storybridgeadventureclimb.com.au/ Story Bridge Adventure Climb]
* [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/keir.clarke/story.htm View on Google Maps] - includes a short video.