Brisbane's Burgeoning Bridges Trivia Quiz

Answer: Centenary Bridge

Opened in 1964, the (then) two-lane Centenary Bridge provided the benefit of allowing an additional commuting option for motorists approaching Brisbane from the Ipswich direction, via the then Centenary Highway (now Freeway) linking Ipswich Road at Darra to Moggill Road at Chapel Hill. The bridge also provided extra impetus for the accelerated development of the suburb of Jindalee into the larger area of the 'Centenary suburbs'.

The bridge suffered damage during the 1974 floods when a runaway gravel barge hit it and lodged in place. Amid fears for the bridge's structural integrity, the barge was deliberately sunk using explosives. Following the floods recession, the damage to the bridge was found to be severe enough to necessitate its closure to a single lane controlled by traffic lights. This situation lasted for a couple of years. The bridge was eventually duplicated in the 1980s.

Answer: Walter Taylor Bridge

The Walter Taylor Bridge, which is shared by vehicular and pedestrian traffic, was opened in February 1936. Prior to that a river boat service existed. The bridge operated on a toll basis from its opening until sometime in the 1960s, with the toll booth located at the Northern end. The author has vivid memories of this as I lived in Indooroopilly for the first 19 years of my life. Until the passing of the toll, it was popularly known as the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge.

The bridge's support cables are surplus cables from the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They were used to hold up the incomplete halves of the Harbour Bridge during its construction. The towers of the bridge are used as residential accommodation to this day. Many a time as a young boy I remember looking up and thinking how wonderful it would be to live in such an exciting place, as I gazed at the washing strung out on lines (absorbing all of the exhaust fumes) as we drove underneath. My views have since changed!

Answer: The bridge has no official name

Believe it or not, the bridge has no official name! Queensland Rail (QR), who operates the bridge, states that they call it the 'Indooroopilly Rail Bridge'. However, as stated above, the bridge was never officially named when it opened in June 1958. During construction, QR simply referred to it as the 'new bridge'.

As this is a contentious local issue, my source (which cites the Lord Mayor's office and QR on the subject) is as follows:

http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s1727736.htm

Of the other choices, the Bremer Bridge does not exist, however, its name is a corruption of Ipswich's Bremer River Bridge. The Bremer River flows into the Brisbane River at a junction named Barella Point, which is upstream from the first bridge in this quiz. The Westgate Bridge is located in Melbourne, and was the site of a bridge collapse during construction in 1970, killing 35 workers. The Pamphlett Bridge crosses Oxley Creek, a tributary of the Brisbane River, in the suburb of Tennyson.

Answer: Albert Bridge

Of a steel truss design, the Albert Bridge was named after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. The original Albert Bridge was opened in June 1875. This alleviated the need to de-train all goods and passengers at Indooroopilly station for transporting across the river by punt to the Chelmer side. Disaster struck in the massive floods of 1893, whereupon the main span of the bridge was washed away.

It was subsequently re-built and the bridge was re-opened in 1895.

Until the construction of the nearby road bridge in the 1930s (refer question 2), the bridge was used by both pedestrian and rail traffic. Following the opening of the road bridge, pedestrian access to the Albert Bridge was withdrawn. As the Albert Bridge is now surrounded by other bridges, access to the pedestrian walkway is now impossible as one would have to cross into Queensland Rail property.

Answer: Jack Pesch

The Jack Pesch Bridge was named after a local cycling champion of the 1930s. Jack was a Brisbane identity, having maintained his own bicycle shop in the inner city locality of Petrie Terrace where he distributed his personal "Rocket" cycle brand. Opened in October 1998, the bridge links the suburbs of Indooroopilly and Chelmer and provides a much more accessible alternative to cross-river cycle and pedestrian traffic than does its nearby road bridge counterpart.

Of the other choices, Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman was a cyclist and politician. An endurance cyclist in the 1920s and 1930s, he was internationally respected for his feats. Robbie McEwen and Kathy Watt are contemporary cyclists who have both represented Australia and Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

Answer: Eleanor Schonell Bridge

The Eleanor Schonell Bridge joins the suburbs of St Lucia and Dutton Park. Its working title was 'The Green Bridge' and the Brisbane City Council ran a competition to determine the final name. Suggestions included Eleanor Schonell Bridge, Hawken Bridge (in reference to the road which leads to the University) and University Bridge, among hundreds of other community suggestions.

The bridge, 390 metres (1280 ft) long, is Australia's first dedicated pedestrian, cycling and bus bridge. In the early 1950s, Dr Eleanor Schonell, along with her husband, Sir Fred Schonell, made advances in dyslexia testing and produced standardised tests, known worldwide as the 'Schonell Reading and Spelling Tests', which are even today held as a benchmark for the measurement of child literacy.

Eleanor Schonell also dedicated much of her time to assisting children with cerebral palsy and to the education of intellectually disabled children.

Answer: Merivale Bridge

So named as it crosses Merivale Street on the South Brisbane side, the Merivale Bridge links the railway stations of Roma Street and South Brisbane.

Opened in November 1978, the long-awaited bridge provided the strategically important final jigsaw piece regarding the development of Queensland Rail's suburban passenger network. The addition of this link allowed for through running of services between the northside and southside of the river. Previously, this had only been possible by either break of rail journey on one side and then a subsequent resumption on the other (catching a bus in the middle) or via a circuitous rail journey across either of the Indooroopilly rail bridges mentioned in questions 3 and 4, and then via Sherwood and Tennyson. However, this then meant a sizeable amount of backtracking, and was a less than ideal situation for an aspiring passenger. Example : Roma Street to South Brisbane via the Merivale Bridge is a journey of 3 to 4 minutes. Via Indooroopilly , Sherwood and Tennyson, closer to 30 to 45 minutes!

The Go Between Bridge, mentioned in the question, was opened on 5 July 2010. It is a toll bridge that links the suburb of West End to Coronation Drive and the Inner City Bypass. It is named after the local band which had minor hits in the mid to late 80s with such songs as "Streets of Your Town" and "Bachelor Kisses".

Answer: Grey Street Bridge

When opened in March 1932, the bridge was known simply as the Grey Street Bridge. It was renamed the William Jolly Bridge on 5 July 1955 in memory of the first Lord Mayor of Greater Brisbane. Although the bridge appears to be made of concrete, it is in fact a steel arch bridge covered with a concrete veneer. Passing underneath the Northern end of the William Jolly Bridge, Coronation Drive becomes the western end of where the Riverside Expressway starts.

The 59th Street Bridge is referred to in a song by Simon & Garfunkel, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)". Australian cities generally do not use the numbering system for streets, preferring to focus mainly on notable people and locations. The Queen Street Bridge does not exist, although Queen Street does lead onto one of the bridges named in this quiz. There is also no Adelaide Street Bridge, however, the 'Brisbane City Centre Master Plan 2006' suggested a new crossing immediately adjacent to the bridge which is the subject of the next question, tentatively named the Adelaide Street Bridge. This bridge will carry pedestrian, cyclist, bus and possibly light rail traffic.

After the Grey Street Bridge, we pass under the Kurilpa Bridge, a pedestrian and cycle bridge, which was opened in October 2009. This bridge is of a Tensegrity design and links Kurilpa Point in South Brisbane to Tank Street in the CBD.

Answer: Victoria Bridge

Brisbane's next bridge straddles the Riverside Expressway on the northern bank and leads across to the South Bank Parklands on the southern bank.

The original Victoria Bridge was a temporary crossing of timber construction, which collapsed due to a marine wood worm infestation! I'm sure that Queen Victoria, after whom the bridge was named, was thrilled to have it succumb to such an inglorious end. Perhaps this is how her famous "We are not amused" statement originated! Its replacement, a metal structure, was washed away in the 1893 floods.

Its replacement opened in 1897 and lasted until 1969. A portion of the southern end of this bridge remains adjacent to the current bridge. This comprises a pedestrian arch, a remnant of tram track and a memorial to a boy who was killed there in a traffic accident when waving to soldiers returning from the First World War.

Answer: Goodwill Bridge

Opened in October 2001, the Goodwill Bridge is 450 metres (1476 feet) long with a 102 metre (335 foot) main span. The Bridge links the South Bank Parklands to the Gardens Point Campus of the Queensland University of Technology. The northern end of this bridge passes under the Riverside Expressway at the western end of the bridge mentioned in Question 11.

The Goodwill Bridge takes its name from the Games of the same name which were held in Brisbane around the period of its construction. The bridge does not cater for any vehicular traffic - it is solely used by pedestrians, cyclists and roller bladers. There was an issue in the early days of the bridge's use where pedestrians were being injured by speeding bicycles and roller bladers. This led to the unusual situation whereby the Queensland Government imposed a speed limit on a pedestrian bridge!

Answer: James Cook

The Captain Cook Bridge was opened in 1972. Of a concrete box girder design, the bridge is 555 metres (1821 feet) long with a 183 metre (600 foot) main span. In reality, it consists of two separate bridges, as the inbound and outbound lanes are not joined. On the western side the bridge links Gardens Point to Woolloongabba on the eastern side. The bridge also represents the transition from the Riverside Expressway to the Pacific Motorway.

The bridge was named in honour of Captain (then Lieutenant) James Cook, a Royal Navy explorer, who charted the east coast of Australia in the 'Endeavour' in 1770. Cook was also responsible for the entire charting of the New Zealand coastline on the same voyage, prior to his sighting of the Australian coastline. The body of water that separates the main islands of New Zealand is named Cook Strait. Captain Cook made two more voyages to the Pacific region before ultimately being stabbed to death by Hawaiian natives in 1779.

Answer: Story Bridge

Opened in July 1940, the Story Bridge was named after John Douglas Story, a senior public servant. He also has an administration building at the University of Queensland named in his honour. Originally a toll bridge, the Story Bridge hosts the shortest highway in Australia. The length of the bridge is 777 metres (just over 2500 feet) and for this short period of time one finds oneself driving on the Bradfield Highway. Visitors from New South Wales would be confused to be told this, as the road that crosses the Sydney Harbour Bridge is identically named!

In 2006 the Story Bridge opened for bridge climbing tours. It claims to be one of only four bridge climbs in the world. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is another. It made me wonder where the other two are located, so I looked them up. Auckland's Harbour Bridge can also be climbed. The other contender is a bridge now known as the Purple People Bridge. It used to be known as the L&N (Louisville and Nashville) Bridge. Its official name is the Newport Southbank Bridge. The bridge links Cincinnati, Ohio, to Newport, Kentucky, spanning the Ohio River.

Of the three alternate choices, Peter Thorley, William Marshall and James Slaughter have all been Brisbane Town Clerks at some stage in the City's history. None of them have a bridge named after them. Slaughter got closest with a park at the base of Mt Coot-tha named after him: J C Slaughter Falls Park.

Answer: Gateway Motorway

The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges are the eastern-most crossing of the Brisbane River. The bridges cross at Quarries Reach, between the suburbs of Eagle Farm and Hemmant on the northern side. On the southern side of the bridges is the suburb of Murrarie.

The original western bridge (known as the Gateway Bridge until May 2010) was commissioned on 11 January 1986 and is of a concrete cantilever box girder design. Its length is 1627 metres (5337 feet) and the main span measures 260 metres (853 feet). Air traffic requirements restrict all aspects of its height to less than 80 metres (263 feet). This is due to the proximity of the southern end of the Brisbane Airport runway. Shipping is also a consideration and many cargo, naval and cruise ships pass under the navigational clearance of 55 metres (180 feet) with little room to spare.

The eastern bridge - a virtual copy of the original - was opened in May 2010. It was at that time that both bridges were named after Sir Leo Arthur Hielscher, AC. Pedestrian and cycle access is allowed on a reserved section on the new bridge.

The Bridges are the centrepiece of the Gateway Motorway, which links the Bruce Highway (at Brisbane's northern boundary at Bald Hills) to the Pacific Motorway at Drewvale in Brisbane's south. The original bridge's opening in 1986 allowed the passage of traffic in a north/south direction, which had previously been required to virtually pass through the centre of the city. Only vehicular traffic is permitted on the bridge.

Answer: Walter Taylor Bridge

Some Brisbanites or people familiar with the area may argue that both the Jack Pesch, Eleanor Schonell and/or Kurilpa Bridges qualify as suspension bridges, however, they are classified as 'cable-stayed' bridges. The Millau Viaduct in France, spanning the Tarn River, is the world's most notable example of this design.

Some will also argue that the Merivale Bridge is a suspension bridge, but it is not. It is of a steel tied arch span design.

A suspension bridge, by definition, must have its cables anchored at each end of the bridge. Any load applied to the bridge is converted into tension in the cables. The cables extend beyond the pillars to connections with ground anchors at each end of the bridge. The bridge's roadway is supported by vertical cables.

Answer: A bridge linking the suburbs of Rocklea and Everton Park

The Smart State Council announced in 2007 plans for a series of "green" bridges for the city, including the Tenerife to Hawthorne and Margaret Street to Kangaroo Point bridges.

The Ipswich City Council (Ipswich is a city to the west of Brisbane) have stated that it would back construction of a bridge spanning the Brisbane River to replace the Moggill Ferry service which has operated since 1878.

The other option for this question, a bridge linking the suburbs of Rocklea and Everton Park, whilst not technically impossible, will never happen, for a number of reasons. Firstly, both suburbs are 'land-locked' and not within cooee of the Brisbane River. Secondly, the distance between the two suburbs would render any such proposal economically unviable. Anyone who ever suggested it (I suspect I am the only individual who has ever linked these suburbs via a bridge in print) would be committed!

This quiz looked at bridges within the Brisbane Region only. There are a number of smaller crossings of the river between Kilcoy and Brisbane which are not covered here.

Looks like I'm headed up the river! Hope you enjoyed the quiz.