The Kurilpa Bridge (originally known as the Tank Street Bridge) is a 63 million pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The bridge connects Kurilpa Point in

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people. Geography South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...

to Tank Street in the

Brisbane central business district Brisbane City is the central suburb and central business district of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is also colloquially referred to as the "Brisbane CBD", "the city", or simply "town". The CBD is located on a point ...

. In 2011, the bridge was judged World Transport Building of the Year at the

World Architecture Festival The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an Architecture, architectural and design event held annually and considered to be one of the most prestigious events dedicated to the architecture and development industries. It was founded by Paul Fin ...

. Baulderstone built the bridge and the company's design team included Cox Rayner Architects and Arup Engineers. A sod turning ceremony was held at Kurilpa Park, South Brisbane on 12 December 2007. The bridge was opened on 4 October 2009 by

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...

Structure

Kurilpa Bridge is the world's largest hybrid

tensegrity Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression is a structural principle based on a system of isolated components under compression (physical), compression inside a network of continuous tension (mechanics), tension, and arranged in s ...

bridge. Only the horizontal spars conform to tensegrity principles. The Kurilpa Bridge is a multiple-mast, cable-stay structure based on principles of tensegrity producing a synergy between balanced tension and compression components to create a light structure which is incredibly strong. The bridge is long with a main span of and features two large viewing and relaxation platforms, two rest areas, and a continuous all-weather canopy for the entire length of the bridge. A canopy is supported by a secondary tensegrity structure. It is estimated that of structural steel including of helical strand cable are incorporated into the bridge. The bridge structure comprises 18 structural steel bridge decks, 20 structural steel masts and 16 horizontal spars or in layman's terms horizontal masts. 72 precast concrete deck slabs sit on the main bridge deck and are secured to the steel structure and together by in-situ concrete stitch pours . The complex cabling system comprises 80 main galvanised helical strand cables and 252 tensegrity cables that are made from superduplex stainless steel . The piecing together of these elements was the highest risk on the project, where any error in the dimension of one of the elements would have halted the critical path of the project. The superstructure was within 13mm of its planned vertical position in its final state at the centre of the bridge . The bridge is lit with a sophisticated

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

lighting system which can be programmed to produce an array of different lighting effects. Depending on lighting configurations, 75%-100% of the power required is provided by

solar energy Solar energy is the radiant energy from the Sun's sunlight, light and heat, which can be harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating) and solar architecture. It is a ...

Naming competition

A public competition was held to decide on a new name for the bridge. On 23 November 2008 it was announced that the winning entry was ''Kurilpa Bridge'', submitted by Shane Spargo of Nundah, Queensland. The name reflects the Australian Aboriginal word for the South Brisbane and West End area, and means . KurilpaBridge1

Gallery

Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
25 February 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction2.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
8 March 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction3.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
16 March 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction4.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
4 April 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction5.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
16 April 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction6.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
24 April 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction7.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
19 July 2009 Image:KurilpaBridgeConstruction8.JPG, Kurilpa Bridge Construction
21 July 2009 File:2010-04 Kurilpa Bridge.jpg, Kurilpa Bridge at night
April 2010 File:Brisbane_(6868660143).jpg, Kurilpa Bridge, Brisbane at night
15 November 2011

References

External links

Department of Public Works information page
* ABC "By Design" interview with Michael Raynor (April 2010

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

Retrieved 2010-05-03. (including 12 mins of audio)
Structurae: Kurilpa Bridge.
Retrieved 16 March 2018.

* ttps://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/dls06p/alma99269963402061 Kurilpa Bridge Construction Photographs 2008-2009

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

{{Brisbane bridges navigation Bridges in Brisbane Bridges over the Brisbane River Bridges completed in 2009 Cable-stayed bridges in Australia Pedestrian bridges in Australia Steel bridges in Australia South Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane central business district 2009 establishments in Australia

Structure

Naming competition

Gallery

See also

References

External links