PREMIER TOURS NEW KURILPA BRIDGE

Premier Anna Bligh today became the first non-construction worker to walk over North Quay and the Riverside Expressway on the deck of the new $63.3 million Kurilpa Bridge.

The Premier inspected a new section of cabling that had been lifted into place earlier that morning by a 200 tonne crawler crane.

The crane is positioned on a 3000 tonne barge located at the south bank pier of the new bridge.

Ms Bligh said the innovative bridge will include around 6.8 kilometres of the striking spiral strand cables when complete.

“Today is another great day for this exciting project,” Ms Bligh said.

“The bridge already looks spectacular with masts and cabling in place on both sides of the river.

”The northern half of the bridge deck is almost finished, stretching from the Commonwealth Law Courts in Tank Street over Riverside Expressway to the middle of the river.

“On the southern side, the spiral approach is complete and the bridge is now stretching out from the river pier about 45 metres off the south bank.

“By the middle of May, the two sides of the bridge will meet, and by September Brisbane locals and tourists alike would be walking across the Bridge from the central business district to the Gallery of Modern Art at Southbank.”

Ms Bligh said construction of the iconic bridge was good news for the community as well as the economy.

“There are currently 65 people working on this project with more than 1050 people employed on site since construction began,” she said.

“This project also aligns closely with my government’s greener and healthier ambitions for Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland.

“It does this by providing a walking and cycling loop between the city and Southbank which also includes the Goodwill Bridge.”

Ms Bligh said the unique tensegrity structure of the bridge would not have been possible 10 years ago because the computer software required to design this unique structure did not exist.

“It is the first pedestrian bridge in the world to be based on tensegrity construction principles which balance the tension of the cables with the concrete and steel components to produce a light-weight but strong structure,” she said.

The design of Kurilpa Bridge is the result of collaboration between engineering consultancy Arup, architects Cox Rayner and the contractor Baulderstone Queensland.

The deck of the bridge is 6.5 metres wide and is 15 metres above the Brisbane River at its lowest point and the structure is 48 metres tall at its highest point.

The completion of Kurilpa Bridge will form part of Queensland’s 150th Anniversary celebrations.

15 April 2009

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