Walter Taylor, builder and engineer and first president of the Graceville Progress Association in 1924, had been pushing for his bridge for six years.

And he was not about to let the depths of the most bitter Depression Australia has known stand in the way of making it a reality.

A commission formed in 1925 was instructed by the Brisbane City Council to investigate what further facilities for crossing the Brisbane River “either by bridges, tubes or other means’’ were necessary for further development of Greater Brisbane.

Walter Taylor gave evidence of the desirability of a bridge before the commission on September 10, 1925.

The commission thought this excellent economy if the existing rail bridge could be acquired for $200,000.

Nothing happened until the combined progress associations of the district held another meeting in 1929 and sent a deputation to the then Lord Mayor WA. Jolly – after whom the William Jolly Bridge is named.

Mr Taylor then decided that the only way to get the bridge was to build it privately.

The most favoured scheme was one under which the bridge would be handed over to the council in good condition after the capital cost plus 10 per cent and working expenses had been recovered in tolls.

Mr Taylor submitted plans for the bridge to the then Premier, Mr A.E. Moore, on June 15, 1931.

The basis for the design for the bridge had come to Taylor as a flash of inspiration. He had been thinking about the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the enormous arch of which had been built out from both shores to meet and lock in the middle.

The two giant arms had been held in place until they met by great steel cables anchored in the rock on each side of the harbour. These had been removed when the two halves of the arch came together.

“Why not,’’ Taylor reasoned, “use them to suspend the bridge between Indooroopilly and Chelmer?’’

He wrote to Dorman Long and Co, the engineers who built the Sydney span, and found the cables were for sale. Twenty-four of the huge hawsers, each made up of 217 separate wires 4mm in diameter and totalling 7754m in length, were shipped to Brisbane.

The ends of these were anchored in two groups of 12 into the rock and concrete pylons prepared on each side of the river and led across the tops of the pylons on rollered saddles.

From these strands steel rods were dropped, and a temporary timber bridge deck was suspended to form a platform from which the bridge proper was built.

The bridge was opened at 2.30pm on February 14, 1936, by the then Governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Wilson.

Tolls were charged on the bridge for 35 years until it was handed over to the city council in 1965. At that time the charge for a car was sixpence (5 cents).

Walter Taylor, the small, energetic religious man who had come with his parents at the age of 10 from his native Sheffield in 1872 to settle in Brisbane and leave his mark on the landscape died aged 93 in 1955.

These are some of the weird and wonderful stories of the Walter Taylor Bridge >>>

‘Bridge on last legs’

The Walter Taylor Bridge at Indooroopilly was “on its last legs’’, Brisbane City Council’s Opposition works spokesman Norm Rose said in May 1984.

“The Walter Taylor Bridge replacement and the widening of the Centenary Bridge at Jindalee are the most pressing bridge projects for council, not the proposed crossing at St Lucia,’’ he said.

“The Indooroopilly Bridge is almost 50 years old and to replace it will take millions of dollars and years of planning.’’

Gold in the bridge

Few of the drivers of vehicles that collectively cross Brisbane’s Walter Taylor Bridge 25,000 times each day would have known they were driving over one of the richest gold lodes ever found in Australia.

It was revealed in February 1986 that the gold lies buried in the country schist deep below the massive Indooroopilly pylon of the unique suspension bridge.

Its presence had been known for decades, since the first test hole for the bridge foundations was sunk on the Indooroopilly bank of the Brisbane River in 1932.

It was told in a special souvenir brochure put out for the opening of what was then called the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge on February 14, 1936.

“While putting down the first test hole at a depth of 48ft (4.4m) gold ore was struck and some free gold discovered.

Closed for business

The Walter Taylor Bridge closed for three weeks in January 1993 for a $1 million refit, despite objections from local businesses.

The Brisbane City Council removed about 800 60-year-old timber planks from the bridge surface and replaced them with safer precast concrete panels.

Lord Mayor Jim Soorley described the bridge as a dangerous mess which had become the source of constant complaints.

The bridge was constantly being closed to carry out emergency repairs. Dangerous gaps also were appearing between the surface planks.

Businesses complained about the closure affecting trade but the council made the decision to repair the bridge in January so it would not impact on the busy Christmas shopping period.

TV show furore

The filming of the popular television show Fire 2 on the Walter Taylor Bridge sparked a fiery backlash from Brisbane motorists and residents in March 1996.

Brisbane City Council was blasted for granting the Fire 2 crew a permit to film on the Indooroopilly bridge for short periods between the hours of 10am and 2pm.

Angry Moorooka businessman Bill Hirst said a number of his employees were late for work both days because of enormous traffic delays on the bridge.

Mr Hirst said a council works department officer told him they had received hundreds of complaints.

“I was told Jim Soorley had gone over everybody’s head and given permission to the crew of Fire to use the bridge,’’ he said.

But Fire location manager Jamie McLennan blamed delays on a broken-down motor vehicle under the bridge.

Bridge goes artistic

Indooroopilly’s Walter Taylor Bridge was in September 1999 represented in a completely

new perspective at an exhibition running at West End gallery Space 43.

The bridge was featured as part of the gallery’s new Urban Urban exhibition, which featured the work of 27 artists.

The Walter Taylor exhibit was the work of Brookfield artist Sharyn Hall, who successfully managed to merge the hard, grey, ironwork of the bridge with soft, feminine fabrics and muted colours.

Getting the heart racing

Brisbane residents were encouraged to imagine a bridge swing on the Walter Taylor Bridge in November 2003.

The adrenaline-charged activity may have seemed far-fetched but was just one of the 30 novel registrations of interest in a bold move by the Brisbane City Council to capture the lucrative adventure tourism market.

A spokesman for council’s community policy committee chairman, Councillor David Hinchliffe, said the idea behind the proposal was to harness the focus on fun and recreation.

“More and more, entertainment and thrillseeking have become the buoyant markets and with the growth of the backpacking market, there could be more scope for tourists and locals to do these things,’’ the spokesman said.

Easing congestion

Massive congestion problems on the Walter Taylor Bridge could be eased with the introduction of more school buses, Indooroopilly MP Scott Emerson said in February 2010.

Mr Emerson called on the State Government to introduce high-frequency bus services for schools near the Indooroopilly train station in the mornings and afternoons.

“Since I’ve flagged this idea on a local level people have really responded, especially since school has started again and traffic on the bridge has become chaotic once more,’’ he said.

St Peter’s official Ron Lyons said the school supported the plan.

“Most parents would be delighted … as long as the buses were timely and stopped in appropriate places,’’ he said.

Grandad approves

Indooroopilly bridge builder Walter Taylor would have approved plans to transform the iconic Brisbane landmark into a unique tourist and leisure destination, his grandson said in November 2011.

Noel Davis said the proposal put forward by riverfront property specialist Patrick Dixon to transform the bridge’s Chelmer pylon into a unique entertainment and accommodation facility would have been backed by his grandfather.

“A restaurant, kiosk, boat-launch facilities, reception centre, even the once sandy beach, decimated by dredging, should be reinstated via a public-private partnership,’’ Mr Dixon said.

Go inside bridge

Curious locals got a glimpse inside the historic Walter Taylor Bridge with tours starting in October 2013.

As a rare habitable bridge, the pylons had been home to several families since it opened in 1936, including the bridge engineer and the toll keeper.

A $150,000 renovation by Brisbane City Council brought the Indooroopilly side up to scratch and groups learnt about the area’s rich history.

Councillor Julian Simmonds said the tour groups would be able to cross the nearby Jack Pesch bridge and walk through the Taylor Bridge Reserve before touring the tower itself, including the river views from the balcony.

“Many residents have wonderful memories of the bridge, including driving under the pylons and seeing washing on the clothing line, but few people have actually been inside the pylons,” Cr Simmonds said.

Double it

Duplicating the Walter Taylor Bridge was one of the five most popular options in a RACQ survey of Brisbane River crossings in July 2017.

The survey showed 65 per cent support for the project.

The RACQ’s Paul Turner said he was overwhelmed by the response, with more than 4600 votes cast.

Make it a home

A real estate agent in March 2023 called on the transformation of the Walter Taylor Bridge into quirky apartment style accommodation for visitors, saying it was currently being “wasted”.

The suspension bridge, connecting Indooroopilly to Chelmer, housed multiple families from the 1960s until 2010. The buildings owned by council have been vacant for some time and tours are being done on the Indooroopilly side.

Dixon Estate Agents owner Jack Dixon said Walter Taylor had a vision and it was currently being under-utilised.

“Its designer and builder, whose name it bears, was one of Brisbane’s most enterprising figures, a man of vision and drive who would doubtless be very sorry to see its potential wasted,” Mr Dixon said.