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 later in 2023.

We have now completed steps 1 to 5.

Bluestone bridge over Plenty River

We started converting the bluestone bridge over Plenty River to a dedicated walking and cycling path.

Bridge beams in place on new bridge over Plenty River

Now that the new bridge over Plenty River is open with one lane in each direction, we’re continuing works to have all four lanes on the 68-metre bridge open later in 2024. We’ve also turned our attention to converting the existing bluestone bridge into a shared walking and cycling path.

The original bluestone bridge over Plenty River in Mernda was built in 1867.

The three-span bridge stood in its original form until 1975, when it underwent major rehabilitation to accommodate the increase in traffic demand and capacity.

Our works on the bluestone bridge will include:

removing the existing asphalt
building a new concrete deck while retaining the original heritage bluestone structure
upgrading the handrails
landscaping works.

When upgrade works to the existing bridge over Plenty River are complete, community members will be able to use safe, improved and effective active transport connections to Mernda Train Station and local businesses and amenities.

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