''Emerson Crossing'', the 'South Road Overpass' or simply 'the Overpass' are the informal names given to the intersection of

South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...

, Cross Road and the

Seaford railway line The Seaford railway line is a suburban commuter line in Adelaide, South Australia. History Before the extension of the line to Noarlunga Centre in 1978, the Willunga line ran from Hallett Cove station on a different route through Reynella, ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. South Road crosses north–south over both Cross Road and the diagonal railway via a large bridge built in the early 1980s. This was done in an attempt to cater for the ever increasing amount of traffic which went through the intersection and was constantly congested during peak hour times.

Emerson railway station Emerson railway station is located on the Seaford railway line, Seaford and Flinders railway line, Flinders lines. Situated in the inner south-western Adelaide suburb of Black Forest, South Australia, Black Forest, it is 7.1 kilometres from Ade ...

is located in the north eastern corner of the crossing. The station and crossing are both named after Emerson Street, a small dead end road just north of the intersection along South Road, in the suburb of

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

. The grade separation at Emerson Crossing is by a 3-span bridge. The centre span is , with a span each end. The abutments and embankments were constructed using the reinforced earth system and completed in 1983. The main bridge work was awarded to

Baulderstone Baulderstone, formerly Baulderstone Hornibrook, was an Australian construction company. History MR Hornibrook In 1926, Manuel Hornibrook founded a construction company in Brisbane. Amongst its notable projects were the Story Bridge and William Jo ...

. It was commenced in January 1984 and was completed in 13 months. The overpass was designed by the Highways Department of South Australia. It incorporates

Texas U-turn A Texas U-turn, or Texas turnaround, boomerang, or loop around, is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn onto the opposite frontage road (typically crossing over or under a freeway or expressway). Typical ...

facilities. It was officially opened jointly by

John Bannon John Charles Bannon (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician and academic. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition ba ...

(the

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

) and Peter Morris (the

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Minister of Transport) on 14 March 1985.

References

{{Reflist Transport in Adelaide Road junctions in Australia