The Stockton 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 ...

that carries the Nelson Bay Road across the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

, between

Kooragang Kooragang () is the northernmost and largest suburb of the city of Newcastle, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Dominated by Kooragang Island, the eastern part of the suburb is primarily industrial, while the western part of th ...

and Stockton in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The bridge and Nelson Bay Road serve as the main transport route between

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and the Tilligerry and Tomaree peninsulas in Port Stephens. The bridge carries motor vehicles and a central

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...

shared

cycleway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except w ...

and

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

History

Prior to the construction of the bridge, the Department of Main Roads operated a car ferry service between Wharf Road in

and Stockton.Graceful Lightness crosses the water ''

Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'' 21 June 2012 page 26 In May 1955, the Newcastle Harbour Crossing Committee was formed by the

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...

to investigate options to cross the

. Options investigated included bridges from Hunter Street and

Nobbys Head Nobbys Head ( Aboriginal and dual name: ''Whibayganba'') is a headland located on the southern entrance to Newcastle Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The headland is situated above the Hunter River and the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean ...

to Stockton and an underwater tunnel. All were rejected as not feasible. The Kooragang Island reclamation project provided an answer. An initial plan to build a bridge from North Carrington to Stockton was rejected as it would interfere with shipping. The

Tourle Street Bridge The Tourle Street Bridge is a pair of road bridges that carry Tourle Street across the Hunter River from Mayfield West to Kooragang in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The original steel truss bridge A truss bridge is a b ...

opened in February 1965 from Mayfield to Kooragang Island, but it would not be until 1968 that construction commenced on the Stockton Bridge. A two lane

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

was proposed before it was decided to build a four lane, 23-span concrete arch bridge with a clearance over the shipping lane. The Stockton Bridge was officially opened by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Robert Askin Sir Robert William Askin, GCMG (4 April 1907 – 9 September 1981), was an Australian politician and the 32nd Premier of New South Wales from 1965 to 1975, the first representing the Liberal Party. He was born in 1907 as Robin William Askin, but ...

on 1 November 1971. At , at the time of its opening, it was the longest bridge to have been built by the Department of Main Roads and the second longest bridge in New South Wales after the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

.Stockton Bridge Opens ''Newcastle Herald'' 2 November 1971 page 1

References

External links

* {{Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales, state=collapsed Arch bridges in Australia Bridges completed in 1971 Concrete bridges in Australia Hunter River (New South Wales) Road bridges in New South Wales Roads in the Hunter Region 1971 establishments in Australia