The Commonwealth Avenue Bridge is two parallel

box girder A box girder or tubular girder (or box beam) is a girder that forms an enclosed tube with multiple walls, as opposed to an i-beam, - or H-beam. Originally constructed of wrought iron joined by riveting, they are now made of rolled steel, rolled ...

road

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

s, made of pre-stressed

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 ...

, that carry Commonwealth Avenue across

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was created in 1963 by the damming of the Molonglo River, which formerly ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle. The lake is na ...

, and connect and in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia.

History

The current bridge is the fourth crossing over the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River is a perennial stream, perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee River, Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin. It is located in the Monaro (New South Wales), Monaro and Capital Country regions of New ...

. The first Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, completed 1916, was damaged in the 1922 flood. The second, using three Leychester-type trusses, was completed in 1924 and damaged in floods a year later. The third bridge, completed in 1927, was a modification of the 1924 bridge, by raising the bridge by and adding a fourth truss. At that time, Molonglo River was not dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin. Building on the plan developed by

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He designed Canberra, Australia's capital city, the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and Leeton, New So ...

, in 1957

William Holford William Graham Holford, Baron Holford, (22 March 1907 – 17 October 1975) was a British architect and town planner. Biography Holford was educated at Diocesan College, Cape Town and returned to Johannesburg. From 1925–30 he studied archi ...

proposed to the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

that the Molonglo be dammed near Yarralumla and that Canberra's 'two halves' should be joined via a lake. Construction of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge began in March 1961 and the bridge was opened in November 1963. Concurrently, the Kings Avenue Bridge was opened in March 1962; and

Scrivener Dam Scrivener Dam is a concrete gravity dam that impounds the Molonglo River in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dam creates Lake Burley Griffin, which was established for recreational and ornamental purposes. Named in honour of surveyor ...

was completed in September 1963. Both bridges were built over a dry riverbed as Canberra was in the grip of drought. It took some time for the lake to fill; finally filled for the first time on 29 April 1964.

Description

Designed by Maunsell & Partners and built by Hornibrook, the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge comprises five spans of continually pre-stressed concrete, totalling . The provide an entry and exit clover leaf layout, on the bridges southern approaches, operate structures were constructed totalling each, in four approximately equal spans. The main superstructure is of multi-web box section shape, continuous over the five spans, ranging from . The central piers, octagonal in shape, are carried on diameter reinforced concrete cylinders. Each of the pre-cast concrete box girder sections are each. In 2019 a detailed analysis for the strengthening and widening of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was presented in a business case for the project. In late 2020 the project was evaluated and accepted by Infrastructure Australia and in January 2021, the Federal Government announced funding to renew the Bridge. That project is unrelated to the ACT Government's plan to extend Canberra light rail network from Civic to Woden.

References

Attribution

External links

* *{{cite AV media , url=http://guides.naa.gov.au/records-about-act/gallery/image002.aspx , title=Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, Canberra , author= , work= , publisher=

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that is the National archives, official repository for all federal government documents. It ...

, date=1963 , format=photograph Road bridges in the Australian Capital Territory Bridges completed in 1963 1963 establishments in Australia Concrete bridges in Australia Buildings and structures in Canberra