Swanport Bridge is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

that carries Highway 1 across the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) ( Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longe ...

, located approximately southeast of the town of Murray Bridge in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, Australia. Opened on 30 May 1979 by transport minister

Geoff Virgo Geoffrey Thomas Virgo (9 November 1918 – 5 January 2001) was an Australian politician. Political career From 2 March 1968 to 29 May 1970 he represented the electoral district of Edwardstown in the South Australian House of Assembly H ...

, the bridge connects the communities of Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend.

Characteristics

The bridge itself is in length with two lanes, one for each direction of traffic, and no separating median. It is constructed from

prestressed concrete Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" (Compression (physics), compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post ...

. There is a footpath on the northern side, with no barrier from the roadway, signposted as being for emergency use only. The bridge serves as a link between the

South Eastern Freeway South Eastern Freeway is a freeway in South Australia (SA). It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities of Adelaide, SA, and Melbourne, Victoria, and signed as National Highway M1. It carries traffic over ...

to the west and the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former alignments of the hig ...

continuing to the east, and as such is an integral part of the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

–

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

road transport corridor. The bridge was originally intended to be a four lane bridge but to save costs only a two lane bridge was built. Both the South Eastern Freeway to the west of the bridge and the Princes Highway to its east are two lanes each way with a wide median and speed limit of . The bridge itself is only one lane each way with no median strip, and has a speed limit of since 2015.

References

Bridges completed in 1979 Road bridges in South Australia Concrete bridges in Australia Crossings of the Murray River 1979 establishments in Australia {{SouthAustralia-struct-stub