The Forgan Bridge is a road

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

over the Pioneer River in Mackay, Queensland,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The construction of the duplication and replacement of the old Forgan Bridge commenced in May 2008 and was completed in August 2011.

History

The original Forgan Bridge was opened on 30 March 1938 by Mrs Forgan Smith, wife of the Queensland Premier

William Forgan Smith William Forgan Smith (15 April 188725 September 1953) was an Australian politician. He served as Premier of the state of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. He came to dominate politics in the state during the 1930s, and his populism, firm leadership ...

, as a replacement for the earlier Sydney Street Bridge. The bridge was named in memory of Mary Forgan, the mother of former Queensland premier William Forgan Smith. The construction of a new long, 4-lane bridge commenced in May 2008. The A$148 million Forgan Bridge Replacement and Duplication Project included replacement of two bridges; the Forgan Bridge and the Barnes Creek Bridge, and widening of Barnes Creek Road. The existing two-lane bridges and road were replaced with new four-lane bridges and road. The project was delivered in two stages; stage 1 included construction of new two-lane bridges and stage 2 included demolition of the existing bridges and construction of new two-lane bridges in their place. The new bridge was opened on 14 August 2011 by Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace, local member of parliament

Tim Mulherin Timothy Sean Mulherin (24 August 1957 – 7 September 2020) was an Australian politician who was the Parliament of Queensland, MP for Electoral district of Mackay, Mackay in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1995 to 2015, serving as ...

, and Mackay mayor Col Meng.

References

External links

Forgan Bridge Replacement and Duplication Project website
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