2. In 1921 The population in Redcliffe was only 1631 people living in
about 400 houses. Of those houses only one was constructed out of
bricks. The land was used mostly for farming. As there were few
people in Redcliffe the government did not want to spend too much
money on building a bridge. Without the bridge it was a four hour
round trip to Brisbane. The road to Brisbane went through Petrie and
was forever flooded.
3. THE KOOPA
In these days there was no
bridge in Redcliffe. Day visitors
travelled to the peninsula by
steamer - the most celebrated
being the Koopa. The Koopa
delivered its first passengers to
the Redcliffe Jetty in 1911 and
continued to transport tourists to
the city until 1914.
4. In 1924 Manuel
Hornibrook was a builder
who employed 900 men in
his building company. He
lived in Sandgate. He had
seen a need for a traffic
link between Redcliffe and
Sandgate.
5. In July 1928 the Mayor in
Redcliffe performed the
switching on ceremony.
Electricity was connected
to Redcliffe.
6. In 1931 the government passed a
law that said new bridges and
roads could charge a toll to help
with the cost of construction.
Manuel Hornibrook had the idea
that if he was to build a bridge
more people would come to
Redcliffe. If it was a toll bridge it
would help to pay for the cost of
building it. On the 8th of June
1932 construction was started on
the bridge.Toll Collector at entrance
7. On Friday 4th of October 1935
Manuel Hornibrook completed the
longest bridge in Australia. The
Hornibrook bridge spanned 2686
metres and connected Sandgate to
Clontarf. On it’s opening day over
3000 cars crossed the bridge in an
hour and a half. A highway dance
was held in Redcliffe to celebrate.
8. The bridge was constructed
of treated timber covered with
bitumen. The poles were
concrete. The highway meant
that people would now live in
Redcliffe not just come to
Redcliffe to visit.
9. The concrete poles on the Hornibrook
bridge lasted well but the wooden
structure became very uneven and a
new bridge needed to be built. A new
concrete three lane bridge called the
Houghton Highway was opened on the
20th of December 1979. Once this
bridge was built the old Hornibrook
bridge was closed to traffic.
10. After its closure to motorised traffic in 1979, the bridge became
popular for walking and fishing. The bridge was closed to foot traffic
on 14 July 2010. Before its closure, the Hornibrook Bridge was the
longest footbridge in the world.
11. In July 11th, 2010 the Ted Smout bridge was completed. The Ted Smout
Memorial Bridge now serves as the pedestrian and bicycle crossing of
Bramble Bay as well as the second traffic bridge in the area.
The Hornibrook Bridge was demolished in mid-2011. The only sections
remaining are the two entry areas. At the Clontarf end, the original
structure has been converted into a walkway and fishing platform
