Welcome to Redcliffe, where you had to pay a toll before you could enter. Hornibrook Highway over Bramble Bay was designed by Manuel Hornibrook.
The Hornibrook Highway Bridge, constructed 1932-35, was one of the first road toll facilities in Queensland to be authorised by special act of parliament. It is notable as a major public work constructed by private enterprise at a time of economic depression in Queensland. The bridge was the major impetus for the development of Redcliffe
Construction of the bridge was important for the growth of the Redcliffe City peninsula and made the commute to Brisbane shorter and quicker, increasing population growth and the number of visitors to the seaside location.
The bridge was operated and maintained by a private company and a toll applied until 1975, with toll booths located on the Clontarf (north) end.
The Hornibrook Highway Bridge was a 2.685 kilometres long timber and concrete bridge that spanned Hays Inlet and Bramble Bay between Clontarf and Brighton, linking Sandgate to Redcliffe. It had identical rendered concrete portals at each end, and two rises along its length which permit small boats to pass underneath.
The bridge construction comprised a timber superstructure supported by reinforced concrete piers with three concrete piles of varying depths. The superstructure had substantial round ironbark grider on corbels, with girders supporting large section ironbark and tallowwood sawn decking. The decking was covered with coarse aggregate bitumen, and had concrete kerb edging. At each end, the first spans of the superstructure were constructed in ribbed reinforced concrete to protect the bridge from termites and fire.
Over 2.5 million superfeet of timber was needed to provide girders and decking on the bridge. Two sawmills were bought specially to process timber from Mount Mee and Conondale Range. 250 timbergetters were employed to cut the required amount of timber.
Concrete was supplied from the QCL works at Darra - the two portals being the first significant structures in Queensland to use material from this source
The Hornibrook Bridge was the first of three bridges to cross Bramble Bay. The bridge closed to traffic in 1979 with the opening of the Houghton Highway, which had been intended to provide a duplicated crossing. The third bridge, the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge opened to traffic in July 2010, delivering the desired capacity increase and resulting in the demolition of the original Hornibrook Bridge, which had been used as a pedestrian and bicycle only bridge since 1979.