By Kate Lockyer
The 84-year-old Story Bridge will require a comprehensive restoration to give it a future 100 years of longevity, a project which the Brisbane Lord Mayor said is beyond Brisbane City Council’s means.
“This is going to be a project that will be significantly more costly and involved than we anticipated,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“There is no question about not doing this project, it’s about now assembling the team to get it done properly and to make sure we get all three levels of government on board.”
The council has invested around $78 million to restore Story Bridge since 2019; however, the repairs, which involved stripping back old paint and applying new protective coatings, revealed significant parts of the structure need to be replaced.
Cr Schrinner said the closest comparisons to this project in Brisbane were the restorations of City Hall and ANZAC Square, which both required support from other levels of government.
“Projects like this in every other state in Australia would be a project done by state governments or federal governments, so it is only reasonable that a project of this scale would get support from other levels of government,” he said.
Nigel Chamier AM, who chaired the City Hall restoration committee and more recently oversaw the refurbishment of ANZAC Square, has been brought on board to develop a road map for the bridge’s restoration.
“I can’t imagine a Brisbane without the Story Bridge and I know many Brisbane residents feel the same,” Mr Chamier said.
“This is an opportunity to look at every possible way to preserve the longevity of this national icon.”
The council will prepare a business case for the overall project and in the meantime, maintenance will continue on the bridge.
The bridge remains the largest steel bridge designed and built predominantly by Australians from Australian materials.
The work will be done in stages over several years, and Cr Schrinner confirmed there will be closures and partial closures of the bridge.
Photography: Luke Barger