New Bridgewater Bridge: $786m project enters home stretch, on track for mid-2025 opening
It’s been talked about for more than two decades but now the replacement Bridgewater Bridge is finally becoming a reality – and the project director says he’s been “amazed” by the progress.
Tasmania
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Being asked to deliver a large-scale project like the new Bridgewater Bridge on time and within budget would keep most people up at night but for Ben Moloney, the pressure is all in a day’s work.
Mr Moloney previously oversaw the similarly high-stakes redevelopment of the Royal Hobart Hospital and is now the project director for the long-awaited new $786m bridge.
He told the Mercury that while he was alive to the massive scale of the project, which is the biggest transport infrastructure development in the state’s history, he didn’t allow himself to become overawed.
GALLERY: Bridgewater Bridge progress
“When I drive out on the site, I’m impressed by what’s happening and the progress and everything else. But the flip side to that is that the team we’re working in – between ourselves, the contractor, and the subcontractors – the relationship is so normal that it actually feels normal,” Mr Moloney said.
“It doesn’t feel overwhelming when you’re working with people who you find enjoyable to work with and you feel everyone’s working towards achieving the best outcome for the project.”
Since the 1990s, the prospect of a new Bridgewater Bridge has been discussed but it’s only now, more than two decades later, that the idea is finally starting to look like becoming a reality, as contractor McConnell Dowell endeavours to deliver the project, which is now at peak production.
The last of the piles are being driven into the river bed and the piers are expected to be erected by about October, before the more than 1000 segments making up the deck of the bridge are laid down.
The new four-lane bridge will open to traffic at 80km/h in the first half of next year. The state government says it will cut travel times for commuters, create jobs by strengthening freight routes, and stimulate the local economy.
It will be the fifth crossing to connect Granton to Bridgewater since the 1830s, with the current bridge having opened in 1946. The remnants of the old bridges can still be seen on the foreshore of Bridgewater.
Mr Moloney, who is also the project director for the planned Tasman Bridge upgrade, said construction work on the new Bridgewater Bridge had begun in earnest in late 2022 after detailed investigations and preparatory work commenced in 2019.
“When you look around on site today, really what you see is about 18 months of real serious construction work,” he said.
“It’s quite impressive to achieve all this in that time and we’re confident of achieving completion of everything by the middle of next year. So, really, we’re 18 months into major construction and we’ve got about 12 months to go.
“What I was probably amazed about was how much happened so quickly from the end of 2022, beginning of 2023 – how quickly things changed. We were obviously doing early works in the months prior to that, getting established, and getting ourselves well-positioned to progress.
“And then, bang, when we basically got through Christmas, the ramp-up of work through that time was hugely impressive.”
According to Mr Moloney, the bridge was on track to be delivered by the mid-2025 completion date target – and all within the allocated budget.
A State Growth Department spokesman acknowledged there had been “impacts to the local community” and motorists as a result of construction but said traffic had kept flowing throughout the duration of the project.
“Ensuring that traffic can continue to flow through the project site has been a constant challenge throughout the project and will continue to be until the new bridge is opened,” he said.
“The program and sequencing of works has been designed to minimise these disruptions where possible by keeping the existing bridge open throughout construction and keep traffic moving through the area.”
Planning approval has been secured to demolish the current bridge and elements of the design of its replacement will recognise the history of the crossing.
’Something to tell the grandkids about’: Bridge workers relish opportunity
Working on the new Bridgewater Bridge has been a “massive opportunity” for labourer Jaimon Roberts, who gave up running his own business just to be a part of the once-in-a-lifetime project.
Mr Roberts, who works for construction company McConnell Dowell, said he and his colleagues were “all pretty stoked” to be contributing to the development.
“We start afresh where no-one’s done this work before and then three months in, we’ve all got a bit of nous,” he said.
“Now that we’ve come this far, it’s starting to feel like we’re actually getting somewhere.
“I think people are only starting to realise now when they drive past, seeing it come together, how massive a thing it is.”
Mr Roberts said he used to run a business of his own but had been looking for “something different” when the opportunity to join the Bridgewater Bridge project came along.
“It’s something to tell the grandkids about,” he said.
Brian Walker, a rigger and operator for McConnell Dowell, said he appreciated being able to learn new skills on the project.
“The learning side of it I find very interesting,” he said.
“It’s a great honour, really. Every day you look forward to coming to work.”
McConnell Dowell was awarded a $600m contract in 2021 to deliver the bridge
There are about 300 full-time equivalent workers on-site for the project – with roughly 80 per cent of the workforce being Tasmanian.
The bridge project has generated about 1000 indirect jobs overall.
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Originally published as New Bridgewater Bridge: $786m project enters home stretch, on track for mid-2025 opening
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