Story Bridge to undergo 5-year renovation

Brisbane’s most iconic landmark, the Story Bridge, will undergo major restoration works under a multimillion-dollar push to safeguard the 79-year-old structure.

Peter Hancock on top of the Story Bridge. Renovation works will begin later this year. Picture: AAP image/John Gass

BRISBANE’S most iconic landmark, the Story Bridge, will undergo major restoration works under a multimillion-dollar push to safeguard the 79-year-old structure.

Council will today announce a five-year plan to repaint the bridge, with existing paint to be blasted off and the structure to be scrubbed clean.

The restoration, the most significant works undertaken on the bridge since it opened in 1940, will begin later this year at a cost of about $80 million.

History how the Story Bridge was built

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the cost of rebuilding another bridge would reach up to $1 billion and insisted that restoration works were essential to prolonging the bridge’s life.

“The restoration will require more than 33,000 litres of paint — the equivalent weight of 14 African elephants or the surface area of 400 tennis courts,” he said.

“There will never be another Story Bridge and, with it now approaching its 80th year, it is vital that we undertake works so it can continue to help residents get home quicker and safer.”

The heritage-listed bridge is a key link between the city’s north and south, servicing more than 30 million vehicles every year.

The Story Bridge during construction in 1939. Picture: Bill Sneyd

The works will be undertaken in stages to minimise traffic impact. Construction on the 1km bridge first started in May 1935 and cost £1,492,000 (about $130m in today’s currency).

“Close to 12,000 tonnes of steel was fabricated in Rocklea, with 400 people employed to build the bridge at the height of the its construction, making it one of Queensland’s main employment-generating projects during the 1930s Depression,” Cr Quirk said.