Did you know, most bridges are held together by pies and coffee?
In our latest series of “Bridges We Love” David shares his fond memories of pulling all-nighters to stitch together the Airport Link Roundabout in Brisbane.
“This project was the construction of a 640m long balanced cantilever bridge, commissioned to significantly reduce traffic congestion, fixing one of the state’s worst bottlenecks.
As the Senior Project Engineer, I had a hand in the early stages of permanent works design, construction sequence and design of new temporary works.
I was then able to get my hands dirty when I moved onto the implementation on site including the development, assembly, testing, and commissioning of a unique segment lifter that installed segments. Employing this innovation along with lifting at night, meant we could crack on without causing major disruptions to the traffic below.
We started segment erection (hehe) in March, and by August, the whole structure was up. The pace was impressive with up to 12 segments fitted in every 8-hour shift. We placed 436 segments in total.
I was extremely proud of what we achieved, and my best memories of this job were the amazing people I met and worked with. There’s something about toiling away in the small hours racing the sunrise that creates a strong sense of team and comradery.
Pulling a decent stint on night shift, I owe a lot of this project’s success to pastry and caffeine. It’s now my staple go-to which I’ve employed for the majority of my engineering career”.
