West Gate Bridge

By Julian and Taylor

The West Gate bridge goes over the Yarra River in Melbourne. They were going to build a tunnel instead of a bridge, but they decided that it would be too risky for vehicles carrying flammable materials, so they built the West Gate bridge. In 1965 a company called Lower Yarra Crossing was formed to build the bridge. It operated under a government body, called the Lower Yarra Crossing Authority. The planned bridge was to be 54 metres high, a little higher then Sydney's famous Harbour bridge. The total cost of the bridge was to be 30 million dollars and this was to be paid over a period of 40 years, by charging a toll of 25 cents per vehicle crossing the bridge.When it was paid for, it then became owned by the Government of Victoria.

When the bridge was being built a pole wasn't stable and thirty bolts were removed from the span connection on the morning of 15th October1970. This caused it to collapse while they were building it. The section of span that fell weighed about 2000 tonnes. Thirty-five people died and the bridge had to be rebuild. Some people were hurt too. Luckily, there weren't any people trapped in the wreckage. It cost 31 million dollars to build it again. This work began on 15th October 1970, the same day it collapsed. The West Gate Bridge was completed in 1978. The final cost of construction was more than 300 million dollars, more than ten times the original estimated cost.