The Barwon Heads Bridge is a road bridge and a separate pedestrian bridge over the Barwon River between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, Victoria (Australia), Australia. The bridge is the only crossing of the Barwon River between Geelong and the river mouth at Barwon Heads.
The original timber bridge was the longest surviving example of a timber stringer road bridge in Victoria. It was constructed in 1926-1927 entirely of timber. It was a "causeway" type structure; low and flat in profile with closely spaced piers but long in length. In 2006 condition report it was determined that the bridge has reached the end of its effective life and should be replaced with a new bridge.
The new road bridge, which replaced the historic timber bridge, utilised components and design elements of the original Barwon Heads Bridge. The road bridge consists of 34 spans supported by 185 treated timber piles (five timber piles to each pier), galvanised steel I beams and reinforced concrete deck. The piers are spaced to match the original timber bridge. The bridge is 308.5 m long and 9 m wide and it carries two 3.3 m wide traffic lanes.
The new 4.5 metre wide pedestrian bridge is located 10 metres downstream from the new road bridge. It is a modern concrete bridge with 27 m long spans (to match every third road bridge pier alignment at 9m) supported by one pile per pier.
Construction of the bridge began in May 2009 and it was completed and opened to traffic in December 2010.
Famous quotes containing the words heads and/or bridge:
“We found ourselves always torn between the mothers in our heads and the women we needed to become simply to stay alive.With one foot in the past and another in the future, we hobbled through first love, motherhood, marriage, divorce, careers, menopause, widowhood—never knowing what or who we were supposed to be, staking out new emotional territory at every turn—like pioneers.”
—Erica Jong (20th century)
“Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.”
—Paul Simon (b. 1949)