True Story

Living in Brisbane for the past 4 months I've seen the Story Bridge many times. I'd always hears about the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb but have yet to do it. When I heard about a bridge climb right here I decided I had to do it.

The day after I got back from Cairns I was off to climb the biggest bridge in Brisbane! I paid my student rate online and had my confirmation printout in hand when I arrived at the HQ of the Story Bridge Adventure Climb. Through out the preparation and the actual climb I learned some very interesting information about this bridge.

Opened for operation on July 6, 1940, the Story Bridge is the largest steel bridge designed, fabricated and constructed in Australia by Australians. The Story Bridge was one of the then governments’ three major public works projects, creating years of employment for many men during the Great Depression. Construction took five years, one year longer than planned, and Queenslander, Dr John Bradfield(same man that designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge) was Consulting Engineer. His design team prepared approx 600 working drawings, and interestingly design for the bridge was based heavily on that of the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal. The overall cost of the bridge was about £1,492,000 and seven years after completion, the State Government sold the Story Bridge to the Brisbane City Council for £750,000. This was only paid off in 1999. The Bridge runs north/south joining Kangaroo Point to Brisbane City and Fortitude Valley.

The bridge is 1,072 meters long from the southern to northern anchor piers and the Bridge’s summit is 74 meters to ground, similar in height to a 22-story building. Currently the bridge is repainted every 7 years using 17,500 litres of paint. I don't think I'd enjoy that job! The approx 1.5 km climb route takes you over the(on average) 70,000 cars cross the bridge everyday. There are more than 1100 stairs climbed up or down during the entire 2 1/2 hour journey. The road on the bridge is called the Bradfield Highway, and is the shortest highway in Australia. It is not to be confused with the Bradfield Highway that spans the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The weather cooperated and the rain stopped overnight and cleared enough for an amazing 360 view. There were 8 others climbing besides me in our group, including two men using gift certificates for their 60th birthdays. I was the only foreigner and definitely the youngest in the group. Still had an absolute blast and made a great way to wrap up my time in BrisVegas.

Cameras aren't allowed on the climb, but I purchased a paper copy of 3 of the shots they took which I hope to scan in at some point soon. To get an idea the 1 minute promotional video from their website can be found at... http://storybridgeadventureclimb.com.au/download/storybridge_1min.mov

Here I am post climb in my suit. Very stylish, I know. I asked if I could take it home, but they wouldn't let me.