An exciting moment for McConnell Dowell’s work on Tasmania’s New Bridgewater Bridge, as half of the construction barges that will be used to deliver the project arrive in Hobart.
The barges are key enabler for the delivery of the largest transport infrastructure project in Tasmania’s history.
In total, 12 barges will be floated into place, linked together and rested on the river bed to form the temporary platform that will be used to construct the new bridge.
This approach offers advantages in terms of time, cost and environmental impact when compared with building a temporary work platform on driven piles.
The new one kilometre long bridge will be the longest road bridge over water in the nation, and will replace the existing lift-span bridge built in the 1940s, providing a new modern crossing of the River Derwent.
The new bridge will cut travel times for the 22,000 people that use the route each day, and facilitate more efficient movement of freight to and from Hobart.