The Walter Taylor Bridge is a heritage-listed suspension bridge crossing the Brisbane River between Indooroopilly and Chelmer in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is shared by motor traffic and pedestrians and is the only habitable bridge in the Southern Hemisphere. It was originally known as the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge.

The bridge is a suspension bridge and its support cables are those that were used to hold up the incomplete halves of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during its construction. When the bridge opened it had the longest span of any suspension bridge in Australia.

The bridge was opened on 14 February 1936 by the Governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Wilson, with the final cost (anchorage to anchorage) coming to £85,000. In its first full year it made a profit of £2581.

After Walter Taylor's death in 1955, the bridge was renamed the Walter Taylor Bridge in his honour in 1956.

Heritage listing

The bridge was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992.

thumb|Sculpture of Walter, the Bin Chicken at the northern entrance to the bridge, 2026

The bridge is part of the Bin Chicken Trail in Brisbane, a sculpture trail celebrating the "bin chicken" (Australian white ibis), a common urban bird in Brisbane. The bin chicken sculpture near the northern end of the bridge is named Walter in honour of the bridge.

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File:Walter Taylor Bridge seen from Chelmer, Queensland 01.jpg|alt=Walter Taylor Bridge (left) adjacent to the Indooroopilly Railway Bridge.|Walter Taylor Bridge (left) adjacent to the Indooroopilly Railway Bridge

File:StateLibQld 1 52980 Official opening of the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge, Brisbane, 1936.jpg|alt=Official opening of the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge, Brisbane, 1936.|Official opening of the Indooroopilly Toll Bridge, Brisbane, 1936, Walter Taylor (far right)

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See also

  • Bridges over the Brisbane River

References

  • Life on the Walter Taylor Bridge in the 1950s Video