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Australia Story Bridge

2011 One Dollar

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The Story Bridge in Brisbane spans the Brisbane River and remains the longest cantilever bridge in Australia. Originally known as the Jubilee Bridge from the time of George V, it was changed to honour John Douglas Story for its opening ceremony. To mark this historic bridge, the Royal Australian Mint decided commemorate it by including it in the capital bridges collection. The collection was to focus on five historic bridges in particular. The Tom Diver Derrick VC Bridge in Adelaide, the Pyrmont Bridge in Sydney, the Princes Bridge in Melbourne, the Story Bridge in Brisbane and the Narrows Bridge in Perth. The artist chosen for the series was Ben Hutchings. The Brisbane version shows the Story Bridge with only the top of the bridge visible with the Brisbane skyline in the background, along with the legend STORY BRIDGE ONE DOLLAR. The obverse of the coin shows an effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II, right-facing and crowned. It contains the legend ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2011. Each of these coins was struck in sterling silver and this particular uncirculated coin had a limited mintage of just two thousand.

The Story Bridge had the same designer as that of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, John Bradfield. It is thought that he modelled the bridge on the similar design from the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal. It was completed and opened on the 6th July 1940 and provides a convenient link between the north and south suburbs of Brisbane. The bridge originally charged a toll to cross it but this was abolished within seven years. The bridge celebrated its 50th birthday in 1990 and it was closed to traffic for the occasion. Two years later it was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. At night, the bridge is illuminated, creating a great photo opportunity for visitors to Brisbane and locals alike. It forms an integral part of the annual Riverfire display and since 2005, offers anyone the opportunity to climb it, which has also become popular among visitors. Maintenance of the bridge occurs every seven years and it needs resurfacing every twenty years (Brisbane City Council, 2014) . The most recent of which was done in January of 2014 amid soaring temperatures and the workforce were commended for their dedication to the task in hand, especially as the most tempting view of many of Brisbane's watering holes were in full view.