The Brooklyn Bridge is a local nickname for the Hawkesbury River Road Bridge, a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

that carries the Pacific Motorway (M1) across the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

between and Mooney Mooney Point, located north of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The bridge comprises a dual carriageway with three lanes in each direction of

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

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 tr ...

conditions. The adjacent Peats Ferry Bridge carries the Pacific Highway (B83) across the Hawkesbury River in a single carriageway with one lane in each direction in

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

conditions. The Peats Ferry Bridge permits the carriage of pedestrian and bicycles; not permitted on the Hawkesbury River Road Bridge. Both bridges are maintained by

Transport for NSW Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is a Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government transport services and roads List of New South Wales government agencies, agency established on 1 November 2011. The agency is a different entity to the NSW ...

History

This bridge was built to connect the sections of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway immediately north and south of the Hawkesbury River. The section north of the river as far as was opened in December 1965, and the adjacent freeway section south of the river was opened as far south as in December 1968. Between 1968 and 1973 freeway traffic was required to rejoin the Pacific Highway in either direction and use the Peats Ferry Bridge (opened in 1945) to cross the river. It was opened in two stages. The three northbound lanes were opened to traffic in August 1973, and the resulting changes to traffic arrangements (whereby northbound traffic no longer had to join the Pacific Highway to use the adjoining Peats Ferry Bridge to cross the Hawkesbury then diverge to where the freeway recommenced north of the river) allowed the approaches at either end of the three southbound lanes to be completed in October 1973, to bring the full width of the bridge into use.

Description

The bridge is founded on rock at up to below water level and the deck is on a 2.1% falling gradient from above water level at the southern bank to at the northern bank. The bridge is long, and was the first bridge in the world to be built of open steel trough girders.

References

External links

* from - informational video of construction {{The Hawkesbury River, state=autocollapse Hawkesbury River Girder bridges in Australia Bridges completed in 1973 1973 establishments in Australia Concrete bridges in Australia Road bridges in New South Wales