Over the past several months I have been observing the course of progress.It has long been planned that a new bridge will be built across the Barwon to replace the current Breakwater Bridge. The present structure was built in the 1960s to replace the breakwater built by Captain Foster Fyans in 1840. This original structure is believed to have been built upon a natural fording point in the river used by the Wathaurong people. This latest vision for the Breakwater river crossing is due for completion by the middle of 2012.
The Breakwater realignment as it is known is designed to relieve the traffic congestion which occurs on a daily basis as several thousand vehicles make their way between Belmont and Breakwater. The bridge will be at such a height that the all too frequent closures due to flooding will be a thing of the past as will the days of trucks misjudging the height of the underpass and getting stuck
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| Current Breakwater Bridge |
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| Current Breakwater Bridge during floods in January, 2011 |
The new roadworks cross the Barwon Heads Road on the west side of the river, impinge slightly on the Barwon Valley Golf Course and cut through what was the site of the motorcross club before crossing first the Barwon and then the Geelong-Warnambool railway line. From there the road intersects Felmongers Road and Tucker Street on the east side of the river.
An
article published in the Geelong Advertiser in October, 2010 gave a glimpse of what we can expect to see when the bridge is complete. In addition to carrying traffic each way, there will be pedestrian and bike lanes.
Over the past several months I have been snapping the odd shot or two as the bridge works have progressed. This shot shows the site of the new bridge during the minor flood which occurred in September, 2010.
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| Site of the new Breakwater Bridge |
The following shots were taken from the east side of the river, slightly upstream of the new bridge.
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| May, 2011 |
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| December, 2011 |
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| February, 2012 |
The following shots show the view from the West bank of the Barwon, slightly downstream of the bridge:
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| September, 2011 |
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| February, 2012 |
Before and after: the view from the current Breakwater Bridge in 2010 and in 2012.
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| February, 2010 |
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| February, 2012 |
As the final stages of construction continue, I hope to add to the photos on this page until we have the finished product.
Hi Jo
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying your blog. Keep up the good work.
Just a comment on the last two photos. I think it's actually quite impressive that so much of the vegetation remains intact despite the construction - we (as a community)have actually made some progress in that respect over the last few years.