Bridges

The construction of The Kangaroo Point Bridge required extensive collaboration and coordination among constructors, fabricators, suppliers, and design teams for both permanent and temporary works. Rising more than 90 meters above the river, the bridge’s steel mast supports a sleek 183-meter cable-supported main span, earning its title as the longest pedestrian bridge span in Australia.

This paper provides an overview of the site constraints and construction challenges from delivering a complex project in a dense urban setting, over the Brisbane River during difficult market conditions.
To tackle these challenges, a key factor was to maximise the off-site assembly and use the Brisbane River to deliver most of the structural elements. Due to the unique shape and large scale of the bridge, these elements could be assembled in a logistical yard prior to being delivered to site by barges in much larger elements than allowed by road.

An overview of the temporary works required to construct the bridge is provided. This includes the precast pile cap system and temporary supports, falsework systems and formwork for the piers and temporary works for the steel mast erection, deck erection, welding platforms, and procedures for the stay cable assembly.

The construction staging considerations for the main span is also discussed. It covers the approach taken by the designer for design deflection control, and the requirements for cable stay stressing, level preset, and precamber to achieve the target deck levels. An overview of the process used to monitor levels at each stage is included demonstrating the successful collaboration between design and construction teams.

The digital engineering is also outlined, highlighting the use of digital models for coordinating steel fabrication, as well as the integration of bridge and building services, which are an integral part of the bridge design and construction.