The construction of the new Bridgewater Bridge is approaching completion, with crews installing the 1,082nd and final roadway segment on Thursday.
Project director Ben Maloney said it has been a “huge exercise” over the last two years to get the new River Derwent crossing to where it is today.
“It’s a massive achievement and it’s quite surreal,” he said. “We are keeping our eye on the main prize, which is traffic on the bridge.”
Maloney said crews now “won’t be taking a foot off the accelerator” as they focus on completing the remaining work needed to open the bridge to traffic by mid-year.
“We want to build a bridge that is a legacy structure that continues on serving the public for many years to come,” Maloney added.
“Throughout this project we’ve had to make sure that we have focused on quality, although time and money are critical, so too is quality.”
“[The bridge is now] going through all those processes of verifying quality, signing all those off before we do announce that it is safe for traffic to start using the bridge.”
Infrastructure Minister Kerry Vincent said the vital link will help grow the “whole southern region” around Bridgewater, Brighton and up to Kempton.
“It shows when you get the right crew and the right people focused and the whole community comes together, along with state and federal government, to make these sort of projects happen, how important it is,” he said.
“Of course in Tasmania we do it better than most. We are a very strong state, we bat well above our weight and this bridge is testimony to that.”
More on this story: Final span of Hobart’s new $786 million Bridgewater Bridge lifted into place
