Two of Brisbane's new flagship construction projects face major delays after February's floods.
Key points:
- Queen's Wharf and Neville Bonner Bridge construction have been delayed
- February's floods caused pilings to be washed away from the bridge site
- The Cross River Rail and Brisbane Metro projects will necessitate the movement of some bus stops
The Brisbane River inundated lower parts of the new Queen's Wharf retail and casino precinct and five temporary piles used in the building of the Neville Bonner Bridge were knocked over.
The walkway, which will connect Queen's Wharf to South Bank, has been delayed by three months and will now open later this year.
A spokesman for Destination Brisbane Consortium, which manages both projects, said Queen's Wharf Brisbane would be ready for a staged opening from mid-2023.
The $3.6 billion development was originally scheduled to open in 2022.
Between July 17-21 and 24-28, the Riverside Expressway will be closed from 8pm to 5am, between Turbot and Alice streets, to facilitate some works on the site.
"Multiplex will close southbound lanes only of the Riverside Expressway, overnight, for a small number of nights to undertake work in close proximity to the expressway. As has been successfully done many times previously, a diversion will be in place and communicated well in advance of the closures," the DBC spokesman said.
"Three temporary piles have been safely recovered with the remaining two piles in the process of being recovered.
"Ground works on the Neville Bonner Bridge at South Bank continue with bridge structure steel sections to be installed sequentially over the next six months."
Tunnel projects to affect bus station
Most other projects face minor delays after Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced a pause on several major city projects.
Brisbane City Council infrastructure committee chairman Andrew Wines said river barges used in the construction of the city's new bridges, like the Kangaroo Point to CBD green bridge, had to be redeployed to help in the flood recovery, including the removal of the dilapidated Drift restaurant at Milton.
That took them away from bridge construction works but the Kangaroo Point and Breakfast Creek green bridges were still on track.
Construction on the Brisbane Metro and Cross River Rail was also expected to create some changes to inner city bus stops.
A BCC spokeswoman said the council was still working with Translink on when Adelaide Street's stop 43 would be moved.
And, she said, the Cultural Centre bus station would eventually be moved to the southern side of the Melbourne and Grey Street intersections as part of construction of the Cross River Rail and upgrades to the Cultural Centre.
The spokeswoman said the public would be notified of the changes before they occurred.