Old Murray Bridge works finished, family fun day planned

This Sunday will be the day Murray Bridge drivers have long awaited.

After 16 months, an upgrade of the old Murray Bridge will be finished, and it will reopen to two-way traffic.

Better yet, there will be a family fun day to celebrate the occasion.

A ceremony will take place on the bridge at 10am, followed by a procession of emergency service, classic and speedway vehicles across to the east side.

The bridge will be closed for one last time, from 8am, to allow preparations to take place.

Murray Bridge RSL will then open its doors for a free barbecue, ice cream, pancakes, fairy floss and slushies; plus face painting, giveaways, a photo booth and a performance by Murray Bridge Community Concert Band.

Cars will be allowed back across the bridge in both directions, with no more traffic lights or boom gates, from 3pm.

That will mean waving goodbye to friendly traffic controllers like Aaron Mann.

Mr Mann, a Murray Bridge local, said he had enjoyed having a five-minute commute to work for the past year and a bit.

Come next week, he would have to drive all over Adelaide for jobs again.

The weather hadn’t always been kind during the past 16 months, he said, but drivers had been – a few had even stopped to leave him chocolates or flowers as they said goodbye this week.

State Transport and Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis thanked locals for their patience during the works, and credited the bridge workers for getting the job done three months ahead of schedule.

“It’s incredibly pleasing to see the reinstatement of two-way traffic across the bridge earlier than anticipated,” he said.

“The work the team has done looks fantastic – the stonework looks as good today as it did when the bridge was first built.”

Maintaining the bridge was important not only for its usefulness, Mr Koutsantonis said, but also for its heritage value.

The old Murray Bridge became the first to cross the River Murray when it opened on March 26, 1879, and later gave its name to the town previously known as Mobilong.

In keeping with the historical significance of the moment, the state Department for Transport and Infrastructure revealed a memento on Thursday: a recreation of Samuel Sweet’s famous 1875 image of the men who built the bridge.

Just like 148 years ago, workers and contractors lined up between the stone pillars at the bridge’s western end to record their contribution to the community.

The $46 million bridge upgrade – which began on May 14, 2022 – was needed to keep the bridge strong enough to keep bearing cars and trucks for at least another 30 years.

Without it, the bridge would have been closed to traffic by 2031.

For their money, taxpayers got:

• A fresh coat of corrosion-resistant paint, and corrosion protection for the piers sunk into the river
• New and improved LED lighting
• Repairs to the stonework at each end, and reconstruction of the parapets at the eastern end
• Reconstruction of one pair of piers
• Footpath and drainage improvements at the town end
• Interpretive signage about the Ngarrindjeri and colonial history of the area

Although its roadway will now return to normal, work beneath the bridge will continue until early 2024.

• More information: Visit www.dit.sa.gov.au/oldmurraybridge, call 1300 794 880 or email dit.engagement@sa.gov.au.

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