New Centenary Bridge now open

The Centenary Motorway crossing over the Brisbane River in Jindalee has been upgraded, with a new and expanded crossing now open to traffic.

As part of the Centenary Bridge Upgrade, works have upgraded the river crossing from four to six lanes by building a new three-lane northbound bridge and rehabilitating the existing bridges to three lanes southbound.

The additional lanes across the bridges will enable further upgrades to the motorway in the future as part of the Centenary Motorway Upgrade project. The Centenary Motorway Upgrade project will provide extra capacity for greater efficiency and travel-time reliability between Brisbane’s CBD and the western suburbs, between local destinations, and along the entire Centenary Motorway.

Significant works to connect the existing road network to the new bridge were undertaken, enabling motorists to use the structure for the first time as part of a multi-stage traffic switch.

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More than 85,000 vehicles using the bridge every day, with the upgrade aiming to meet the demands of the growing local population and therefore increasing traffic volumes.

The project is being jointly funded by the Queensland and Federal governments.

BMD delivered the works. BMD Constructions General Manager QLD and NT Rob Pickard said the new northbound bridge is the result of detailed, technically complex work carried out over two years.

The Centenary Motorway crossing over the Brisbane River in Jindalee has been upgraded, with a new and expanded crossing now open to traffic. — Image of the Centenary Bridge before works got underway> Image: Queensland Government.

“A critical part of the bridge’s construction was the onsite manufacturing of all 30 precast girders with each one cast, cured and post-tensioned using a specialised concrete mix,” he said. “With lengths up to 48 metres long and weights exceeding 200 tonnes, producing the girders on site allowed us to manage the scale of the moulds, reduce transport risks and maintain tighter control over the construction program.

“With the new lanes now open, the team is turning its attention to rehabilitating the existing bridge structure.”

Reconstruction on the southbound bridge will begin in 2026, transforming it into a three-lane southbound road connected to the bridge as part of another multi-staged traffic switch.