After a series of weather delays, the spans of the Bridge of Remembrance will finally be lifted

Drivers have been urged to plan for delays of at least 30 minutes as the span of the Bridge of Remembrance is finally lifted into place this weekend.

Acting Lord Mayor Helen Burnet next to the soon-to-be-completed Bridge of Remembrance at the Cenotaph. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

HOBARTIANS will wake up on Saturday morning to an unfamiliar sight — the Bridge of Remembrance.

Drivers are urged to plan for delays of at least 30 minutes as the span of the Bridge of Remembrance is finally lifted into place this weekend.

Barring any last-minute, unforeseen circumstances, contractor Fulton Hogan will lift the two 30-metre spans between midnight on Friday night and 6am on Saturday, creating a pedestrian link between the Hobart Cenotaph and the Queens Domain.

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Contruction work on the Bridge of Remembrance. Picture: MATHEW FARRELL

Acting Hobart Lord Mayor Helen Burnet said the council was relieved the bridge would finally be completed.

“The contractor has obviously had to take this precautionary approach,” she said.

“The Tasman Highway will be closed from Brooker Avenue to the Tasman Bridge from 7pm on Friday to 6am on Monday. But if the works are completed before then the road would be opened.”

In the event of last-minute cancellation due to poor weather, the weekend of February 1 to 4 has been pencilled in for the lift.

Cr Burnet said a ferry service would operate from Bellerive to Brooke St Pier about every 30 minutes from 8.10am to 5.30pm on Saturday.

A comprehensive traffic plan is in place, and there will still be access to the city centre. The Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre will operate as usual.

The first flight departing Hobart Airport is to Melbourne at 6am. People travelling to the airport on Saturday are urged to allow for extra driving time.

An artist’s impression of the Bridge of Remembrance. Picture: Hobart City Council

Last week, Fulton Hogan informed the council it had received approval from the Department of State Growth to lift the span of the bridge.

The bridge will commemorate 100 years since the end of World War I, and was meant to be completed by November 11 last year.

The lift was originally planned for the weekend of October 12 to 14, but was delayed because the contractor was not satisfied with the finish of the cladding. It was then rescheduled for the weekend of November 2 to 4, but was cancelled because of bad weather. Bad weather once again foiled the final lift on the November 23-25 weekend.