Alfords Point Bridge

Alfords Point Bridge is a twin 445-metre-long (1,460 ft)[1] concrete and steel box girder road bridge that carries Alford Point Road as state route A6 across the lower Georges River between Padstow Heights in the City of Bankstown and Alfords Point in the Sutherland Shire in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Alfords Point Bridge
Alfords Point Bridge in 2007, prior to completion of the duplication of the bridge
Coordinates33°58′39″S 151°01′50″E
Carries Alfords Point Road
CrossesGeorges River
LocaleSutherland Shire/Bankstown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Maintained byRoads and Maritime Services
Preceded byM5 Motorway bridge
Followed byTom Uglys Bridge
Characteristics
DesignDuplicated box girder
MaterialConcrete
Trough constructionSteel
Total length445 metres (1,460 ft)
Width15.3 metres (50 ft) per carriageway
No. of spans10
Piers in water6
No. of lanes3 northbound; 3 southbound
History
Opened
  • 7 September 1973 (1973-09-07)
  • 22 August 2008 (2008-08-22) (duplication)
ReplacesVehicular punt between Lugarno and Illawong
Location
References
[1]

The first bridge opened on 7 September 1973 and although the deck was built wide enough to accommodate three lanes of traffic, carried one lane of traffic in each direction. In 1980 the lane arrangements on the bridge were changed to provide a third lane, and a tidal-flow traffic management system was introduced, with two lanes northbound in the morning and two lanes southbound in the evenings.

When the first bridge was built, a second set of piles and abutments was built a few metres downstream, allowing for future duplication. The second bridge was opened for southbound traffic on 22 August 2008, leaving the first bridge for northbound use only.[2]

Description

There are two other road crossings over Georges River downstream of the Alfords Point Bridge: the Captain Cook Bridge, which opened in 1965 and the Tom Uglys Bridge, which opened in 1929. Captain Cook Bridge connects Sans Souci to Taren Point. Tom Uglys Bridge connects Blakehurst to Sylvania.

History

The bridge was built as the last link in the Hornsby-Heathcote county road (although a number of route realignments followed), and serves a metropolitan function. Construction of the bridge allowed the decommissioning (in 1976) of Lugarno ferry, which had operated since 1843 on Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchell's line of the Illawarra Road. The ferry had operated between Lugarno and Illawong.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Alfords Point Bridge (Australia)" (PDF). Project information. Switzerland: Mageba. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  2. "Alfords Point Bridge duplication community update" (PDF). NSW Roads and Traffic Authority. Government of New South Wales. February 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2007.
  3. "Alfords Point Bridge" Archived 30 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine, Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW Accessed 26 September 2006
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