Barwon Heads Bridge

Barwon Heads Bridge
Barwon Heads Bridge
	Barwon Heads Bridge
Coordinates	38°16′57″S 144°29′45″E
Carries	Motor vehicles; Pedestrians on a separate bridge;
Crosses	Barwon River
Locale	between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia
Maintained by	VicRoads
Characteristics
Design	Beam bridge
Material	Timber, Steel, Concrete
Total length	308.5 metres (1,012 ft)
Width	9 metres (30 ft)
Longest span	34 metres (112 ft)
No. of spans	34
Load limit	44 tonnes (43 long tons; 49 short tons)
History
Constructed by	McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust)
Construction start	May 2009
Construction end	December 2010
Replaces	1927-2010 timber bridge

The Barwon Heads Bridge is a road bridge and a separate pedestrian bridge across the Barwon River between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, Victoria, Australia. The bridge is the only crossing of the Barwon River between Geelong and the river mouth at Barwon Heads.

History

The original timber bridge was the longest surviving example of a timber stringer road bridge in Victoria. It was constructed in 1926-1927 entirely of timber. It was a "causeway" type structure; low and flat in profile with closely spaced piers but long in length. In 2006 condition report it was determined that the bridge had reached the end of its effective life and should be replaced with a new bridge.

Description

The new road bridge, which replaced the historic timber bridge, utilised components and design elements of the original Barwon Heads Bridge. The road bridge consists of 34 spans supported by 185 treated timber piles (five timber piles to each pier), galvanised steel I beams and reinforced concrete deck. The piers are spaced to match the original timber bridge. The bridge is 308.5 metres (1,012 ft) long and 9 metres (30 ft) wide and it carries two 3.3-metre wide (11 ft) traffic lanes.

The new 4.5-metre (15 ft) wide pedestrian bridge is located 10 metres (33 ft) downstream from the new road bridge. It is a modern concrete bridge with 27-metre long (89 ft) spans (to match every third road bridge pier alignment at 9 metres (30 ft)) supported by one pile per pier.

Construction of the bridge began in May 2009 and it was completed and opened to traffic in December 2010.

References

External links

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