New bridge over Plenty River

As part of the Bridge Inn Road Upgrade, we’re building a new bridge over Plenty River. The new bridge will feature 2 lanes in each direction, reducing congestion and improving connectivity to local services.

The existing bridge, one of the oldest bluestone bridges in Victoria, will become a shared walking and cycling path.

How we’re building the new bridge

Construction works on the new bridge started in late 2022 and are expected for completion in mid 2023.

We have now completed steps 1 to 4.

Bridge beam install

We’ve now completed installing the beams for the new bridge.

Bridge beams in place on new bridge over Plenty River

We installed 33 precast super-T beams, measuring up to 32 metres in length.

The beams were manufactured at a pre-casting concrete factory in Melton, which is one of the thousands of important supply chain businesses benefiting from Victoria’s Big Build.

Using pre-made concrete beams sped up works on the bridge, meaning drivers faced shorter disruptions.

The beams began their 67-kilometre journey to Bridge Inn Road on the night before installation commenced and continued over the next few days, until all 33 beams were lowered into place.

Each beam was carefully placed to be millimetre perfect. The new bridge will sit 500 millimetres above the existing bluestone bridge.

Frequently asked questions

Each beam comes with its own birth certificate to give the project team information on when the beam was constructed, how long it took for the concrete to set, and the official accreditation required for quality checks.

There were around 200 people involved in the beam lift operation, including engineers, site supervisors, labourers, machine operators, administrators, project managers and other support staff.

Each person played an important role to ensure the beams were installed safely.

The existing bridge, which is one of the oldest bluestone bridges in Victoria, will be converted into a dedicated walking and cycling path.

We have many environmental protections in place to safeguard the Plenty River and the surrounding environment as we build the new bridge.

For example, cotton silk floating bollards have been placed in the river to catch debris, to ensure water quality is not impacted.

We’re also using 50% Supplementary Cementitious Materials, which is a partial substitute for cement.

By using less cement, we’re helping to reduce carbon emissions, raw materials extraction and materials going to landfill.

Bridge photos

Works for the new bridge started in late 2022. The photos below capture our progress over the months.

Bridge Inn Road Upgrade new bridge over Plenty RiverDecember 2022 — December 2022

Bridge Inn Road Upgrade new bridge over Plenty River February 2023 — February 2023

Bridge Inn Road Upgrade new bridge over Plenty River — February 2023

Bridge Inn Road Upgrade new bridge over Plenty River March 2023 — March 2023