32 Australian GeographicT
HIS YEAR the city of Brisbane
celebrated the 75th anniversary
of the Story Bridge, which
opened on 6 July 1940. Although
the crowd on opening day was large,
it was nothing compared with the
74,000-strong group that gathered
there in honour of this birthday.
Construction on the bridge began
in 1935, during the Great Depression.
The aim was to create jobs and help
alleviate traffic congestion at the
Victoria Bridge, the only inner-city
crossing at the time.
Brisbane-born Dr John Jacob Crew
Bradfield had been the chief engineer
on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which
opened in 1932. He was commissioned
as designer and consulting engineer
for the Story and recommended a
steel-cantilever construction (above),
a design requiring more than 12,000
tonnes of locally manufactured steel.
The dangerous, backbreaking
labour – as seen in this 1937 photo-
graph (right) from the State Library of
Queensland’s George Jackman Collec-
tion – was carried out by 400 men.
They worked inwards from opposite
banks of the Brisbane River and
eventually met in the middle.
At the time, George was a corre-
spondent for The Courier-Mail and Daily
Mail. His image depicts men standingThe construction of the Stor y Bridge called for bold labourers to
work in trying conditions above and below the Brisbane R iver.
high-flying history
Men of steel
precariously on a single girder high
above the Brisbane River, while
manoeuvring the beam with rudimen-
tary block and tackle pulleys. Heavy
cables run along each side of the
girder and are threaded through the
pulley system.
Not only did the workers face
dizzying heights, they also laboured
in what was, at that time, Australia’s
deepest airlock. The southern pier had
been sunk some 30m into the river
bed and the crews used compressed air
as they toiled below the surface.
The work was not for the faint-
hearted and this photograph is a
testament to the tenacity of the hardy
men who overcame great adversity to
complete the bridge. Many suffered
the bends and, sadly, four were killed
during the construction period.
At a total length of 777m, the
Story Bridge remains the longest
span metal truss bridge in Australia.
And it’s still a “much loved Brisbane
landmark”, says Graham Quirk,
current mayor of Brisbane. “It’s a
wonderful, iconic piece in the
city...[and] was a bridge built for
Queenslanders, by Queenslanders.”
Today it’s a vital city thoroughfare
that carries more than 70,000
vehicles each day.
PAUL BROWN