Birkenhead Bridge

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (14:37): I do. My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Can the minister update the house on what the South Australian government has done to renovate the heritage-listed Birkenhead Bridge, a bridge I have travelled over many, many times?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:37): I thank the member for Colton for his question. The South Australian government's commitment to improving Port Adelaide has been evident in one of our latest projects, the restoration of the heritage-listed Birkenhead Bridge.

Officially opened on 14 December 1940, the bridge brought the Birkenhead side of the river closer to the heart of Port Adelaide, facilitating industrial expansion and further housing developments along the Lefevre Peninsula by providing an opportunity for traffic to flow freely over the water. Prior to this, the only way of crossing the inner harbour at Port Adelaide was by oar-driven or motorised ferries.

The bridge has an interesting history. The Birkenhead Bridge was the first double bascule-designed bridge built in Australia, and it is listed on our state heritage register due to cultural and engineering significance. In February 1942, Australian Army engineers drilled holes in the bridge to enable placement of explosive devices to demolish the bridge in the event of an invasion, and in the 1960s electric trolley buses ran across the bridge to Largs and to Semaphore.

More recently, in 2012 concrete repairs and installation of a cathodic protection system to protect the bridge piers were undertaken at a cost of $1.6 million. In 2014, two of the bridge's lanes were converted into a shared pedestrian and bicycle path as part of the state government's Outer Harbor Greenway initiative at a cost of $760,000.

Last Friday, along with the member for Port Adelaide and the mayor of the Port Adelaide Enfield council, I unveiled the South Australian government's most recent investment in the area, the completion of the $1.1 million heritage upgrade and maintenance project undertaken on the Birkenhead Bridge. I would like to thank AFL Services Pty Ltd, a local company based in Wingfield and employing residents of the Lefevre Peninsula, which undertook the project. The handrails were removed from the bridge, taken away and the paint blasted off, before being painted in the original pewter colour.

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: Ivan would have fixed it.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Unfortunately, the former member for Schubert did not tender for the works, which was a great disappointment to the government.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: That's right, he certainly would, yes. The streetlights underwent the same refurbishment process off site, while being upgraded to LED lamps, and returned the design of the lights to their original heritage twin head design.

These works gave us the opportunity to remember a terrible tragedy that happened on the bridge 38 years ago. On the night of 22August 1978, Mr Geoffrey Wayne Martin lost his life in a horrific collision involving a petrol tanker and Mr Martin's vehicle. Despite the efforts of emergency services, Mr Martin was trapped in his vehicle due to the collision and incinerated. As part of the heritage works, a plaque was installed on one of the bridge's pedestrian shelters as a memorial to Mr Martin and as an acknowledgement of his wife, Elaine, and his two sons, Ben and Josh. On Friday, it was very humbling to see so many of Elaine's friends and family attend the unveiling, including one of those officers who first attended from the emergency services.

This is an important bridge in South Australia's history, but it is also an important bridge to the community of Port Adelaide and to the communities on Lefevre Peninsula. It was a wonderful thing not just to see this heritage bridge restored to its former glory but also to take the opportunity to recognise what was one of South Australia's most horrific traffic incidents and to remember Mr Martin and also his wife, Elaine, and family.