The Neville Bonner Bridge is a striking pedestrian-only bridge that spans the Brisbane River, forging a vital link between South Bank Parklands and the emerging Queen’s Wharf precinct in Brisbane, Australia.
The Bridge stands as a testament to visionary design and engineering excellence. It enriches Brisbane’s urban landscape by blending form and function, uniting heritage, resilience, and beauty in a symbolic structure of connection and cultural respect.
Officially opened to the public on 28 August 2024, the bridge is named in honour of Neville Bonner AO, Australia’s first Indigenous member of parliament.
A Design and Construction Contract, where we appointed Grimshaw Architects in collaboration with WSP as our structural designers. The bridge embodies a hybrid arch and single-mast cable stayed structure that creates a graceful, ribbon-like sculpture across the river. It features a mid-river pier supporting both the arch and mast, enabling a lightweight but dramatic form.
A central observation deck, known as the “Lookout”, invites pedestrians to pause and take in sweeping views of the river and city skyline. The design also incorporates a continuous shading canopy, providing shelter from Brisbane’s subtropical sun along the entire deck.
The Neville Bonner Bridge integrates more than 1,000 tonnes of permanent structural steel for the main structure, plus about 900 tonnes of temporary steel to support construction phases. The mast reaches an elevation of approximately 77 metres above sea level, comparable to Brisbane’s Story Bridge, while the bridge spans a total length of about 320 metres, with 45 metres over the Riverside Expressway.
Key construction materials also include roughly 2,750 m³ of in-situ concrete and 550 m³ of precast concrete. Multi-stranded suspension cables total about 1,200 metres, comprising 22,700 metres of cable strands. Durability and resilience were design priorities, where in our design, we accounted for wind speeds exceeding 220 km/h and resistance to a 1-in-2,000-year flood event.
Construction began in March 2020, working under tight constraints to maintain river and road traffic functions. Strategic lifts included the placement of decking sections over the Riverside Expressway, achieved during temporary road closures.
A pivotal milestone occurred 27 February 2023, when the final deck section was installed overnight, marking the structural completion after two years of work. The bridge was designed and built to minimize disruption, often using barges and temporary scaffolding to assemble components efficiently and safely.
Upon completion, the bridge was projected to carry around 10,000 pedestrians daily, enhancing connectivity and active transport opportunities between South Bank and the CBD. A bronze bust of Neville Bonner, sculpted by John Elliott, was relocated to the northern end, reinforcing the bridge’s cultural significance.
As part of the broader Queen’s Wharf development, a $3.6 billion urban renewal effort, the bridge delivers on social, environmental, and economic sustainability, earning a 6‑Star Green Star Communities rating for the precinct.
Neville Bonner Bridge has received the following awards
- Queensland Architecture Awards (2025)
- Minister’s Award for Urban Design (2024)
- 6-Star Green Star Communities Rating
