Here we are, in 2020.

Nine months have elapsed since my last blog entry and during that time the new bridge over the Clarence River at Harwood was completed and opened for traffic in time for Christmas 2019.
It was five years ago that we could see signs of work starting on the approaches and then the bridge itself. It's hard to believe that it is finally open.

We drove across it in January when we had to go up to Lismore - it is a long way above the water to the road deck....30 metres, apparently. It certainly feels like it when you're up there!
It's a beautiful structure. Long may it stand.
(The hyperlink above opens a news video in another window).

The Bridge - The river is almost spanned.

The following photos were taken two days ago and, unlike the previous sets, were shot in the late afternoon as opposed to early morning.
This was deliberate and was done so that the structure, now with the majority of its girders in place, would be lit by the sun rather than be in shadow.

All photos enlarge to full-size when clicked.

We start with two taken from the southern end of the existing bridge, where the pedestrian steps from the roadway below join the footpath on the bridge itself. The first photo looks south and the second looks north.
Note that the footpath sections are being installed.

 

The next two are looking north and show that the spanning of the Clarence River is nearly complete.
Only a few girders remain to be fitted and, once done, it would be possible to cross the river by walking the full length on the girders, even without the road-base sections in place.

I walked along the highway to a point on the northern side where I could get a decent shot of the arch in order to give an idea of its length and height when compared to the existing crossing.
It really is an enormous structure.

Two shots, below, showing the 'U'-shaped pre-stressed girders.
These are manufactured on-site, in a rather large shed on the northern side of the river, and are installed by a crane using a massive sling.
Note that each girder weighs 161.5 tonnes.
At each span, therefore, there are 646 tonnes in girders alone which those massive columns have to support.
The girders crossing the river can only be lifted into place when the wind-strength is below 6 knots; those on the land approaches could be placed in winds up to 12 knots.

Below, a view of the "Pi" structure which I took back in January.
It looks a bit different now that it is doing its job!

Finally, a view of most of the bridge.
Not long now before the Clarence has a new span across it.

Bridge update; girders across Yamba Road.

I had to drive across to Maclean this morning and whilst the traffic was stopped at the junction of Yamba Road and the Pacific Highway I managed to grab these quick shots. (Click on image for full-size).
I keep a small camera (Panasonic Lumix) in my car for just such occasions.

The enormous size of this structure can be appreciated by looking at the vehicles on the existing bridge in the background (second photo).
In another year or so they will many times higher....up there on top of the new concrete girders.

Bridge progress update.

As mentioned back in my January post, here is the most recent series of photos on the construction of the new highway bridge over the Clarence River at Harwood.
These were taken last Saturday morning, under a grey and threatening sky.
All photos enlarge to full-size when clicked.

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This is a huge structure. It's only as we see the girders being placed that the enormity of it becomes clear.
The size of the columns and cross-beams can be gauged by the men working on top doing the form-work for where the girders will be keyed to the beams.

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Starting from the south side of the bridge - and looking southwards - the following sequence moves towards the centre of the existing bridge.
Columns are now starting to rise from the piers sunk in the river.

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The cylindrical steel form-work for the construction of the concrete columns.

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On the northern side of the river the girders are being positioned and are getting closer to the northern bank of the Clarence.

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Finally, a few shots of the panorama from a vantage-point along the riverbank towards the sugar factory.

Soon the girders will be marching across the river, so my next update will most likely be later this month.

It's 2018 - Welcome to the first diary entry for the year.

BRIDGE UPDATE

It is several month's (October 2017) since I last updated the progress of the enormous new bridge which will carry the new dual-carriageway Pacific Highway across the Clarence River, some 9kms up-river from Yamba.

So yesterday morning at around 7 o'clock, on what was a beautiful clear summer's morn, I headed off and took the following series of pix.

Refer back to the October and August 2017 entries to follow the progress of the construction.

All images enlarge to full-size when clicked.

The above photos were taken from the same spot as two previous shots in October and August and look northward across the river. It is evident that all the piling work has been completed, the concrete piers and beams have been done for the northern approach and the construction of the piers in the river itself is well in hand.

Work on the southern approach has continued but emphasis has been on the northern side of the river.

Here on the southern side the concrete pilings are under construction.

 

The work which has progressed on the north side is most impressive, with the concrete columns and cross-beams now at the river's edge. In the distance you can see that installation of the huge longitudinal U-beams has commenced. These beams - each weighing over 100 tonnes - are manufactured on-site.

The steel brackets which project from the top of each column are used to anchor the form-work for the concrete cross-beams, which weigh 180 tonnes. The brackets, along with the stainless-steel ferrules into which they are bolted, are removed after the work is completed and the holes then filled with a composite mix.

The existing bridge - which will continue in use for local traffic (and which is being refurbished so that it will last for another 50+ years) - is dwarfed by one of the new "pi" structures.

(As soon as I saw the shape I was instantly reminded of the mathematical symbol for pi.)

I'll have another update in March.

The new Pacific Hwy. bridge over the Clarence....update

Two months ago (August 23rd.) I took some photos of work on the pilings for the northern approach for the new crossing. I made a blog entry HERE.

This morning I revisited the construction site to get some pics of the work underway for the pilings on the southern side, such work commencing only a couple of weeks ago.

So this blog update will consist mainly of photographs (all enlarge to full-size when clicked) and I'll kick off proceedings with a comparison between what the southern approaches looked like then and what they look like now. The shots were taken at about the same location...........

Here is another set of comparisons, with a view north across the river back in August (top) and a view from the same location taken this morning................

As you can see, the work for the northern piling tubes has been completed, as has most of the pile-driving for the tubes across the river and work on the southern tubes is well underway.

Look closely at the full-size image of the shot immediately above and you will see that one of the first concrete pylons on the north bank is being constructed.

The following photos are all from my visit this morning....in no particular order but showing the work being carried out on the southern side of the river.............

 

The earthworks in the right-background is part of the on/off ramp arrangement.

Plumes of steam rise from Harwood sugar mill.

Looking south and the piling tubes yet to be pounded into the ground.

The RMS are taking a photographic record of the construction. One of two cameras seen here.

The shot below is of one of the several trawlers which operate on the river. In the background is part of the village of Harwood, on the upstream (western) side of the bridge.

More galleries will be added as the bridgework continues.