Nothing represents The Sunday Mail Transurban Bridge to Brisbane more than the iconic Gateway Bridges.
Flashback to May 1986, Prince Phillip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, officially opened the Gateway Bridge. In his trademark humorous style, Prince Philip declared the bridge was “more open than usual”, a nod to the fact that the Bridge had already been open to traffic for nearly 5 months prior.
At this time, around 12,000 vehicles were crossing the bridge daily. Fast forward to today and around 125,000 trips are taken by motorists every day.
The second Gateway Bridge, completed in 2010 was an exact replica of the 1986 bridge, stretching 1.6km long and 65m high, with a gradient of 5.3% on both sides.
Thanks to Transurban, participants in the Sunday Mail Transurban Bridge to Brisbane will have the unique opportunity to run, walk or roll over the newer bridge while it is fully closed to traffic – the only time each year this is ever possible.
And for Transurban’s Senior Manager Public Affairs Ruth Moody, the event isn’t the first time she has made her way over the Gateway Bridge on foot.
Ruth was one of the 200,000 people to walk across the Gateway Bridge back when it was first “unofficially” opened to the public on 11 January 1986.
“Little did two year old me know that one day I’d be lucky enough to be working for the company responsible for operating and maintaining such an iconic bridge structure,” Ruth said.
During her time with Transurban, Ruth has witnessed a fair share of furry friends also trying to use the bridge as their own water crossing.
“Our Incident Response team has rescued many animals from the bridge over the years, including a family of ducks and a possum.”
Perhaps the most iconic crossing of the bridge came in the form of the Pope mobile in 1986.
“Even the Pope has made his way across the bridge during his visit to Brisbane in November 1986,” Ruth said.
Ruth will be joining more than 250 colleagues as part of Team Transurban, racing over the Gateway Bridge to raise funds for Transurban’s long term charity partner Ronald McDonald House Charities South East Queensland.
“At Transurban we love being part of such an iconic community event where we get to showcase the iconic Gateway Bridge, while raising much needed funds for charities across SEQ,” Ruth Moody said.
Ready to cross the bridge for yourself? Register now