In 1926 Kangaroo Point was recommended by the Brisbane City Council's Cross River Commission.[1] 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.[2]
Major bridges
#
Name
Usage
Description
Suburbs
Photo
1
Sir Leo Hielscher (two bridges) — original bridge formerly known as the Gateway Bridge
vehicles, cyclists & pedestrians
Original bridge opened January 1986 by the Duke of Edinburgh Duplicate bridge opened May 2010. Concrete box girder design. 260 metre (853 ft) main span.[3]
Crossings between the Centenary Bridge and Wivenhoe Dam
In addition to the existing bridges between Centenary Bridge and Wivenhoe Dam a number of others have been proposed.
The Goodna Bypass is designed to relieve congestion on the Ipswich Motorway and will have four new bridges over the river (but no access to or from the north-western suburbs). Land acquisitions were underway in 2010 to create the future transport corridor.[21] As of 2010, there is no date or funding provided to commence the construction of the Goodna Bypass.
The Western Bypass would have included a crossing of the river but has been cancelled.[22]
The existing crossings on this section of the river are listed below[23] (note: coordinates are derived from Google Earth).
The highway runs on top of the dam wall for 2.3 kilometres from Lake Wivenhoe (the locality) from north to south (Lake Wivenhoe being on both sides of the river)
Crossings from Lake Wivenhoe to Moore
When Lake Wivenhoe is full the waters extend many kilometres up the river.[23] The first crossing upstream from the lake is a high level bridge built in conjunction with the dam to raise the Esk Kilcoy Road well above the maximum level of the lake. Several minor crossings of this section of the river shown on maps are omitted from the list below. The omitted crossings belong to one of the following groups:
Former low level crossings now covered (most of the time) by the waters of Lake Wivenhoe.
Public or private roads that provide access to farms on the eastern side of the river.
Private roads or tracks that link parts of farms that are astride the river.
The more significant crossings from Lake Wivenhoe to Moore are listed below.
Gregors Creek (near Woolmar) northside to Gregors Creek (near Yimbun) southside, Links Brisbane Valley Highway to farms atand provides an alternate route to Kilcoy
Harlin (near Woolmar) northside to Harlin (near Colinton) southside, links Brisbane Valley Highway to Kilcoy
Upstream from Moore
Linville Road follows the river from Moore through Linville to the Mount Stanley State Forest.[23] It crosses the river 12 times between Linville and its end, where it splits into Western Branch Road and Eastern Branch Road. Western Branch Road follows the west branch of the river to its source in Elgin Vale State Forest, north-west of Mount Stanley, crossing it 28 times. Eastern Branch Road follows the east branch most of the way to its source south-east of Mount Stanley, crossing it about 20 times before it ends.
For information about tunnels which cross the Brisbane River, please check the Brisbane River page.
References
^Gregory, Helen (2007). Brisbane Then and Now. Wingfield, South Australia: Salamander Books. p. 92. ISBN978-1-74173-011-1.
^Hacker, D. R. (1999). Petries Bight: a Slice of Brisbane History. Bowen Hills, Queensland: Queensland Women's Historical Association Inc. pp. 45–46. ISBN0-9590271-8-1.