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Work commences on temporary bridge at Queens Park for UCI Road World Championships
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
4:44 PM
Media Releases
The 2010 UCI Road World Championships moved a step closer this week with the commencement of site works at Queens Park for the construction of a temporary bridge to accommodate the race.
The bridge is necessary as the existing single lane Queens Bridge is narrower than the minimum six-metre road width specified by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) the international governing body for cycling.
The UCI Organising Committee has commissioned the installation of a Bailey bridge – a style of bridge commonly used by the military and road authorities where a low cost river crossing is required.
The temporary bridge will be assembled on site from prefabricated components and installed north (upriver) of the existing Queens Bridge.
Temporary approach roads will be constructed on the east and west bank of the Barwon River to join the race course with the bridge.
The western approach road will be routed north of the toilet block at Queens Park.
City of Greater Geelong Mayor Cr John Mitchell said the construction of the bridge was an historic moment for the Queens Park precinct.
“Who could have imagined when the existing single lane steel bridge was built in 1930 that 80 years later a bridge would be built alongside to accommodate the world’s best cyclists,” said Cr Mitchell.
“While the Bailey bridge will be removed after the event it will remain a fascinating footnote in the history books, as will the event itself of course.
Cr Mitchell said the temporary bridge would be disassembled and removed once the UCI Road World Championships were over and the site returned to its original condition.
“The bridge and approach roads will be removed with the exception of part of the eastern approach road – we’ll take advantage of having a new asphalt road in this location to fast track Council’s plans to upgrade the car park,” said the Mayor.
The City of Greater Geelong will landscape the area and pave the car park as outlined in the Queens Park Master Plan.
The toilet block on the western bank has also been refurbished in readiness for the world championships in late September.
During the works program alternative pedestrian routes will apply for the riverside shared path where it meets the bridge site at Queens Park. Changes to the existing route will be signposted.
Queens Park Road, including the existing single lane bridge, will remain open throughout the works program.
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