The Riverside Expressway will close this weekend when a 40-metre, 43 tonne section of the bridge will be craned into place at the city end.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles inspected works during the week.
Mr Miles said the project was about 80 weeks away from opening late next year.
“This is another milestone in the world-class development that will transform Brisbane’s CBD, boost tourism and create thousands more jobs when complete,” Mr Miles said.
“By this time next year more than 1500 workers will be on site at Queen’s Wharf as it readies to welcome an estimated 1.4 million annual visitors.
“Eventually more than 8,000 workers will be employed across the precinct.
“It’s transformative infrastructure like Queen’s Wharf and Cross River Rail that will change the fact of South East Queensland.
Destination Brisbane Consortium Project Director Simon Crooks said these are major critical works that would build a new lasting asset for the residents of Queensland.
“This week is the start of works to assemble the 13 sections of bridge decking that make up the 320-metre span of Brisbane’s new Neville Bonner Bridge,” Mr Crooks said.
“We’ve safely installed the first section of the pedestrian bridge at South Bank that will connect Brisbane’s busiest entertainment precinct to the restaurant and retail level of Queensland’s newest entertainment and tourism drawcard.”
“The 40-metre, 43 tonne section that will be carefully lifted into place this weekend will extend from the integrated resort over the expressway to the support column in the recreation area called the landing,” Mr Crooks said.
“Fitzgerald, our bridge contractor, will use a 600-tonne crawler crane on a barge in the river to lift the bridge deck section from an adjacent barge safely into place.
“The lift itself will take place in the early hours of Saturday morning, with pre-cast concrete decking panels and pouring of a concrete topping slab to follow prior to the expressway reopening.”
Mr Miles said the Bridge would be named after Neville Thomas Bonner, who 50 years ago was chosen to fill a casual Senate vacancy making him the first Indigenous Australian to sit in the Australian Parliament.
“It’s great that we can acknowledge a historic Queenslander with the naming of the Neville Bonner Bridge that will connect Queen’s Wharf Brisbane and South Bank,” Mr Miles said.
The Riverside Expressway will be temporarily closed this weekend from 10pm Friday 18 June until 5am Monday 21 June to all traffic between Elizabeth Street and Margaret Street.
Tolls will be waived for the duration of the closure for motorists travelling via the Go Between Bridge or Clem7 tunnel in either direction.
Motorists are encouraged to choose alternate routes via the Story Bridge or South Brisbane – using Merivale and Cordelia Streets or the William Jolly Bridge.
The CBD will remain accessible via the Captain Cook Bridge and Margaret Street or from the north via North Quay however, the Cornwall Street and Stanley Street on-ramps to the Pacific Motorway (northbound) will be closed.
The Bicentennial Bikeway will remain open although for safety reasons will require hold and release of users during the major overhead heavy lifts. Traffic controllers will be on-site during these periods.
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