Neville Bonner Bridge

The bridge is part of the Queen's Wharf Brisbane project, whose works began in 2017 with the demolition of the buildings on the site, among them the former Neville Bonner Building. The project is run by the Destination Brisbane Consortium, which in 2019 brought together The Star Entertainment Group and its Hong Kong partners, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium. The Grimshaw practice designed the bridge with WSP for this consortium; delivered as part of the project, the structure is owned by the State of Queensland.

It is named after Neville Bonner, the first Indigenous Australian to sit in federal Parliament. Appointed to the Senate in 1971 to fill a vacancy, he sat there until 1983, and was named Australian of the Year in 1979.

In October 2019 the Queensland Government announced that Fitzgerald Constructions Australia, a specialist in marine works and bridge building, would build the structure. Work began on site in March 2020. In late November 2021 installation of the steel superstructure began, planned over three nights: two arch segments, each 60 m long and weighing 90 tonnes, and the crowning arch, meant to sit 30 m above the river. On 27 February 2023 the last deck section, 10 m long and weighing 20 tonnes, was fitted, completing the bridge platform. In 2023, 500 ticket holders walked it in a preview, out to the halfway lookout.

The bridge opened to the public on Thursday 29 August 2024, the day chosen to begin the staged opening of the Queen's Wharf Brisbane precinct.

The 320 m bridge crosses the Brisbane River. Its principle combines a mast and an arch: this hybrid solution reduces the structure needed to cross the river and gives it a light yet dramatic presence. Neil Stonell, Managing Partner at Grimshaw, describes it as an elegant, winding ribbon that extends from South Bank toward the heart of the city. The neighbouring parklands influenced the design.

It is a cable-stayed bridge, with a mast rising 77 m above sea level, and it spans 45 m across the Riverside Expressway. Building it took more than 1,000 tonnes of structural steel.

The deck is suspended, inviting visitors to stay a while and take in the views over the river, the city and the parklands. A continuous shade structure, from South Bank to the Queen's Wharf complex, protects against the subtropical sun. A lookout stands at the halfway point.

Since it opened, the bridge has become an important link between the city centre and South Bank.

At its northern end stands the bronze bust of Neville Bonner, weighing 80 kg, by the Brisbane sculptor John Elliott; it used to stand in the foyer of the Neville Bonner Building. Several plaques also commemorate him.

Pedestrians only. On the South Bank side, access is by stairs or a ramp; on the city side, the bridge lands at the restaurant and retail level of the Queen's Wharf Brisbane complex, from where lifts, escalators and stairs lead down to William Street and George Street.