A 40km/h speed limit has been put in place on the Bridgewater Bridge for the foreseeable future, ahead of a full closure for essential maintenance next weekend. The Department of State Growth has today announced that the bridge will be closed to all traffic from 8pm on Friday, May 27, until 6am on Monday, May 30.
The department says an engineering assessment has revealed that one of the bridge joints has deteriorated and there is damage to the road surface, supporting concrete and reinforcing, and a full closure is needed to access both lanes in order to undertake the repairs, followed by time to allow new concrete to set.
Detours will be available via the Bowen Bridge or Tasman Bridge for those travelling to or from Hobart, or via the New Norfolk Bridge. Some public transport services may be affected during the closure, and passengers should check with local providers if they usually travel across the bridge.
“We will continue to maintain the existing bridge to keep it safe and operational until the New Bridgewater Bridge is open to traffic in late 2024,” a spokesperson said. They said the bridge remains safe to use, and monitoring will continue over the next week.
“The longer we leave the issue, the worse it will get due to the vibrations from traffic travelling across the bridge. We have waited until next weekend to fix the issue to minimise the disruption to the community. We understand the inconvenience this closure will cause and thank the community for their understanding.
“We need to access both lanes at once to get a good view of the issues, to break up and replace the unsound concrete and repair reinforcing. The concrete will take about 24 hours to set firmly. We will also inspect the bridge further while it is closed to traffic to check for any other issues.”
During the closure, traffic can detour via the New Norfolk, Bowen and Tasman bridges. No-one will be able to drive across the Bridgewater Bridge or transit underneath until it reopens on the Monday morning. The speed limit will be reduced to 40 km/h to reduce vibrations on the bridge until the longer-term repairs are completed.
The Australian and Tasmanian governments have committed $786 million project to replace the bridge and this work is expected to be done over the next three years. It will see a new four-lane bridge built downstream of the existing bridge and new interchanges in Granton and Bridgewater. More information is available at the New Bridgewater Bridge website.
