Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges

About

The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges, formerly and still collectively referred to as the Gateway Bridge, are a pair of twin road bridges that carry the Gateway Motorway (M1) over the Brisbane River, skirting the eastern suburbs of the city of Brisbane. The western bridge carries traffic to the north and the eastern bridge carries traffic to the south. They are the most eastern crossings of the Brisbane River and the closest to Moreton Bay, crossing at the Quarries Reach and linking the suburbs of Eagle Farm and Murarrie. The original western bridge (formerly named the Gateway Bridge) was opened on 11 January 1986 and cost A$92 million to build. The duplicate bridge was opened in May 2010, and cost $350 million. In February 2010, the Queensland Government renamed the Gateway Bridge and its duplicate the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges. Following the announcement, an opinion poll conducted by Brisbane's Channel Nine News showed that 97% of people were against the decision to rename the bridge and that most would continue to call it the Gateway Bridge. A public open day for the duplicate bridge was held on 16 May 2010 and the new bridge was opened to traffic on 22 May 2010, six months ahead of schedule. Following the opening, the old bridge was refurbished, three vehicle lanes at a time. From November 2010 the two bridges carry 12 lanes of vehicle traffic (six in each direction). The associate

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.