Story Bridge

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The Story Bridge is a large steel bridge in Brisbane, Australia. It crosses the Brisbane River and connects Fortitude Valley on the north side with Kangaroo Point on the south. It carries three lanes of road traffic in each direction, and there are separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists on both sides.

The bridge is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia. The road on the bridge is called Bradfield Highway. The Story Bridge is 777 meters long, 24 meters wide, and 74 meters high. Its longest span is 282 meters, and there is about 30.4 meters of clearance below. It opened on 6 July 1940 and was named after John Douglas Story, a senior public servant. A toll was charged at first, but it ended in 1947.

It was designed by John Bradfield, building on plans from the Hawken Plan to ease river traffic. Construction took place from 1935 to 1940 during the Great Depression. The work was done by Evans Deakin and Hornibrook Constructions. Parts were made in a factory at Rocklea, and about 1.25 million rivets were used. The bridge has one pier on the north bank and two on the south bank because the southern foundations were very deep. Deep foundations used a pneumatic caisson, with workers sometimes under high air pressure.

Three men died during the construction. For a while the bridge was called Jubilee Bridge, but it opened as the Story Bridge and has since become a Brisbane landmark. It is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.

In recent years, there have been safety and maintenance concerns. In March 2025, the outer edge pedestrian and cycle paths were closed because of rust and other damage, with plans for restoration by 2045 to prevent closure. The city-side path reopened in October 2025 after replacement decking, while the other side’s work continued. A new underpass near Kangaroo Point began in 2023 to help access the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge.

The bridge is a famous site for events like Riverfire and is lit at night. Bridge climbs started in 2005 and have become a popular tourist activity. It is recognized as an icon of Queensland engineering and heritage. The Story Bridge carries about 97,000 vehicles each day.