The Eleanor Schonell Bridge, better known as the Green Bridge, is a 390-metre (1,280 ft)-long

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

which crosses the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Gov ...

between

Dutton Park Dutton Park is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Dutton Park had a population of 2,024 people. Geography Dutton Park is located about south of the Brisbane CBD. It is bounded to the north-east ...

and the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

's St Lucia campus, connecting the UQ Lakes and Dutton Park Place busway stations. Its deck is 185 metres long, 20 metres wide and about 18 metres above the river's surface. The bridge was opened on 17 December 2006, and is the first bridge in Australia exclusively designed for

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es,

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with t ...

s. The bridge cost $55.5 million to construct. The opening of the bridge signalled the end of the popular cross-river ferry service between Dutton Park and St Lucia, which had been running since 1967. The two ferries that remained at the cessation of the service, MV Loyalty and MV Vicky Lynn were sold, the Loyalty now being used as a private vessel and the Vicky Lynn as a floating advertisement for the Riverpoint Luxury Apartments in West End.

Construction

The "as-built" concept design of the bridge was proposed as an alternative design by Bruce Ramsay. Construction of the bridge has included a new road through Dutton Park, the expansion of

Annerley Road Annerley Road is an arterial road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was formerly known as Boggo Road due to the boggy condition of the road. Route Annerley Road commences at Stanley Street at Clarence Corner. It passes through or forms ...

, a new bus station for the University of Queensland and the permanent redirection of College Road in St Lucia. The detailed design and the construction was carried out by

John Holland Group The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction. History The company was founded in ...

. A related transport infrastructure project is the

Eastern Busway The Eastern Busway is a bus-only road running from the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus to Langlands Park busway station in Queensland, Australia. Development The Eastern Busway was built and opened in stages. The first section bet ...

which links the Eleanor Schonell Bridge with the

Queensland Rail City network The Queensland Rail Citytrain network, provides urban, suburban and interurban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia. History The first railway in Queensland did not run to Brisbane, but ran from Ipswich to ...

at Park Road station and to the

South East Busway The South East Busway is a grade separated bus-only road running south from the Brisbane central business district to Eight Mile Plains in Queensland, Australia. The busway was completed to Woolloongabba in September 2000 and to Eight Mile Pla ...

Public transport services

To coincide with the opening, TransLink announced three new bus services which will use the bridge. These services are the 109, 169 and 209. The 109 started operation on 18 December 2006, and links UQ to the city via Annerley Road and the CBD end of the

. The 169 service began in February 2007 and links UQ with Eight Mile Plains and Garden City. The 209 service also began in February 2007, and links UQ with Carindale. The fourth service, the 139, was introduced in July 2007 in order to address overcrowding issues on the 169 and on Mains Road services from the

Griffith University busway station Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge ...

, and links UQ with Sunnybank and Sunnybank Hills. The 139 only operates on weekdays during university semesters. The fifth service, the 192, was announced in October 2008 and is designed to connect the university to West End and Highgate Hill. The 192 is not a new service; rather it is an extension of an older route servicing the West End/Highgate Hill area. It only operates on weekdays. The most recent addition to the UQ service is the 29 route, operating a shuttle every five minutes between the Woolloongabba Bus Station and UQ Lakes.

Traffic impact

Although southside travellers previously had the option of boarding a cross-river ferry, the bridge has a far greater capacity. Average river crossing times have also improved, especially in the off-peak when only one ferry was in use. The popularity of the bridge had initially proven troubling to TransLink and the Brisbane City Council, with extra buses having to be put on to cater to the large number of commuters traveling to St. Lucia campus. The Boggo road busway is now complete, and has delivered improved efficiency for the rail/bus interface at Park Road Station and has opened up the St. Lucia area to more travelers. The new route possibilities are not all one-sided; northside commuters now have a 15-minute cycle along Annerley Road and the

Goodwill bridge The Goodwill Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge which spans the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects the South Bank Parklands in South Brisbane to Gardens Point in the Brisbane CBD. The Goodwill ...

to the CBD from the UQ side of the bridge. The Councillor for the local council ward of Tennyson, Nicole Johnston, whose electorate incorporates the Dutton Park side of the Eleanor Schonell Bridge, advocated a trial for private vehicular traffic. The Brisbane City Council did not respond to that suggestion.

St. Lucia end

The traffic area at the St Lucia end of the bridge terminates as a

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

, without any non-pedestrian thoroughfare options into the streets around The University of Queensland or St Lucia. The separate path for cyclists on the bridge leads directly through to various paths away from the bridge, a deliberate measure to ensure that "there will be no through-running bus service connected to the campus or to the suburb of St Lucia".

Naming

Brisbane Lord Mayor This is a list of the Mayors and Lord Mayors of the City of Brisbane, a local government area of Queensland, Australia. The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Adrian Schrinner. Mayors of the Brisbane Municipal Council (1859–1903) The T ...

Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...

announced on 28 August 2006 that the Green Bridge would officially be called the Eleanor Schonell Bridge. An independent panel including Brisbane historian and author Helen Gregory,

academic

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Michael Keniger,

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Bill Corker from

Denton Corker Marshall Denton Corker Marshall is an international architecture practice based in Melbourne, Australia. History Denton Corker Marshall was established in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie ...

and a representative from the Lord Mayor's Youth Advisory Council Milindee Jeewandara produced a short list of three names to Brisbane's Civic Cabinet from hundreds suggested by the public being: Eleanor Schonell Bridge, Hawken Bridge and University Bridge.

Eleanor Schonell made an internationally recognised contribution to testing for dyslexia and was renowned for her generous and humane approach to life. Her work with
cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensat ...
children led to international recognition and she also contributed substantially to the education of children with
intellectual disabilities Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability in the United Kingdom and formerly mental retardation,Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010). is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by signifi ...
.

During its conception and construction, the bridge was known as the "Green Bridge" because it was a

sustainable transport Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; th ...

initiative and since the naming many people have continued to call it the Green Bridge in preference to its official name.

Green power

To conserve energy consumption energy efficient and low wattage lights were used. Feature lighting was also minimised to reduce both power requirements and the impact of the bridge on the surrounding area. Cut-off timers and remote operation features were also incorporated to reduce the amount of unnecessary lighting while still maintaining a safe environment for users. The energy requirement of the bridge is generated by a high-profile solar roof, containing 108 x 175W panels. The solar roof feeds electricity back into the supply authority grid thereby offsetting the mains power electricity used by the bridge at night.

Incidents

On 24 October 2009, 21-year-old University of Queensland student Whitney Heuvel urged his friends to use a camera phone to film him jumping off the bridge. Intoxicated, he misjudged the rails and fell awkwardly, resulting in his death.

Gallery

Image:ESB Eleanor Schonell Bridge IMG 4738 (4292774028).jpg Image:ESB Eleanor Schonell Bridge IMG 6142 (3410442866).jpg Image:Eleanor Schonell Bridge, Brisbane 03.jpeg Image:Eleanor Schonell Bridge, Brisbane 07.jpeg

References

External links

Green Bridge Project overview
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Google Earth (Version 4) 3D Model
{{Brisbane bridges navigation Bridges in Brisbane Bridges completed in 2006 Cable-stayed bridges in Australia Public transport in Brisbane Bridges over the Brisbane River University of Queensland Dutton Park, Queensland St Lucia, Queensland Road bridges in Queensland