Gateway Bridge, Brisbane
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| Gateway Bridge | |
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| Official name | Gateway Bridge |
| Carries | Motor vehicles |
| Crosses | Brisbane River |
| Locale | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design | Concrete cantilever box girder |
| Total length | 1,627 metres (5,340 ft) |
| Width | 22 metres (72 ft) |
| Height | 78.75 metres (258.4 ft) AHD |
| Longest span | 260 metres (850 ft) |
| Opened | 11 January 1986 |
The Gateway Bridge is a road bridge at the centre of the Gateway Motorway (M1), which skirts the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the most eastern crossing of the Brisbane River, closest to Moreton Bay, crossing at the Quarries Reach, between Eagle Farm and Murarrie.
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[edit] History
Construction on the Gateway Bridge commenced on 5 June 1980. It was officially commissioned on 11 January 1986. Uniquely, the construction of the bridge started before the design was completed, to fast track its construction.
[edit] Design
On completion of construction, the main span of the Gateway Bridge was the world record (260 m/853 ft) for a prestressed concrete free cantilever bridge. It held this record for over 15 years. The box girder is still the largest prestressed concrete, single box in the world, measuring 15 m (49 ft) deep at the pier, with a box width of 12 m (39 ft) and an overall deck width of the 6 lanes of 22 m (72 ft).[1]
The bridge owes its distinctive shape to air traffic requirements restricting its height to under 80 metres (260 ft) above sea level (all features of the bridge including light poles) coupled with shipping needs requiring a navigational clearance of 55 metres (180 ft).
The bridge has six lanes (three in each direction). The bridge was financed by funds borrowed by the Queensland Government, and as a result, users of the bridge pay a toll on the southern side of the Brisbane River. The Bridge is operated and maintained by Queensland Motorways, which is a Queensland Government-owned enterprise.
- Opened: 11 January 1986
- Total length: 1,627 metres (5,337 ft) in length. This is divided into a southern approach of 376 metres (1,234 ft), a northern approach of 731 metres (2,398 ft) and the three central spans of 520 metres (1,706 ft).
- Main span: 260 metres (853 ft) long X 64.5 metres (212 ft) high (equivalent to a 20-storey building)
- 150,000 tonnes (165,346 t) of concrete
- Operated by: Queensland Motorways
[edit] Duplication
[edit] Outline
In 2005, a major upgrade of the Gateway Motorway was announced. The $1.88 billion Gateway Upgrade Project includes the duplication of the Gateway Bridge and upgrades to 20 km (12 mi) of the Gateway Motorway from Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road in the south to Nudgee Road in the north.
To the South, the upgrade includes widening 12 km (7 mi) of the Gateway Motorway from 4 to 6 lanes. To the north, it involves the construction of the 7 km (4 mi) Gateway Motorway deviation, an entirely new six-lane motorway between the Gateway Bridge and Nudgee Road. The deviation runs east of the original motorway through Brisbane Airport Corporation land and provide a second access to the Brisbane Airport.
[edit] Status
The Gateway Upgrade Project is being progressively delivered with each section of the project being opened to traffic as soon as it is completed. The Wynnum Road upgrade was completed on 13 July 2007 and 2 additional southbound lanes between the Port of Brisbane Motorway and Wynnum Road completed in late 2007.
Four of six lanes of the new Gateway Motorway deviation were opened in July 2009. All works south of the river are expected to be complete by the end of 2009.
The spans of the duplicate Gateway Bridge are complete. The duplicate bridge is expected to be complete by mid 2010 along with the remaining lanes of the Gateway Motorway deviation. Finally, the existing bridge will be refurbished with the entire project scheduled for completion in mid-2011.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Structurae: Gateway Bridge (1986), http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0002214, retrieved 2008-11-26
[edit] External links
- Gateway Upgrade Project Website
- Queensland Motorways Website
- Gateway Bridge in the Structurae database
- Webcam of Gateway Bridge
- Google Earth (Version 4) 3D Model
- Gateway Bridge, Brisbane is at 27°26′40″S 153°06′01″E / 27.44452°S 153.100415°ECoordinates: 27°26′40″S 153°06′01″E / 27.44452°S 153.100415°E
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