The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River built to carry vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the longest cantilever bridge in Australia.
The road across the bridge is named Bradfield Highway. The bridge connects Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point. The Story Bridge opened in 1940 and was tolled until 1947. It is named after prominent public servant John Douglas Story.
In March 2025, the joint pedestrian and cycle paths on the outer edges of the bridge were closed indefinitely. Brisbane City Council had deemed the paths unsafe after the discovery of rust, concrete cancer and spalling. Council has also determined that the bridge will require a full restoration by 2045 to ensure it does not close. The city-side pedestrian and cycle paths were later reopened in October 2025 after around 300 metres of replacement footpath decking was laid on the footpath to restore the walking and cycling connection across the Brisbane River, while the other side's restoration is still underway.
History
Given the early settlement of Kangaroo Point, there is a long history of residents wanting a bridge between the Brisbane CBD and Kangaroo Point. Even while the first Victoria Bridge was being constructed between North Brisbane and South Brisbane in 1865, several hundred people were petitioning for a second bridge to be built from the Customs House to Kangaroo Point. In 1888, a meeting was held in the Brisbane Town Hall to demand a bridge connecting either George Street, Albert Street or Edward Street via the City Botanic Gardens with any loss of the land from the gardens to be potentially compensated by removing Government House.
Planning
A bridge downstream of the Victoria Bridge was part of a larger plan, devised by Professor Roger Hawken of the University of Queensland in the 1920s, for a series of bridges over the Brisbane River to alleviate congestion on Victoria Bridge and to divert traffic away from the Brisbane central business district. The William Jolly Bridge was the first of the Hawken Plan bridges to be constructed. Lack of funds precluded the construction of the downstream bridge at that time. Initially plans called for a transporter bridge further downstream near New Farm.
