New $40m Footbridge Opens Vital Link To Adelaide's Riverbank Precinct

A new $40m pedestrian bridge has officially opened in Adelaide, providing a vital connection between the city’s highly visited Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Railway Station and the recently redeveloped Adelaide Oval.

Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL), Aurecon and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (TZG)

were engaged in 2012 to design the new Riverbank Bridge, following a design competition run by the South Australian Government Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI).

‘The completion of the Riverbank Bridge invites exciting opportunities for revitalising the parts of the city that connect to this precinct, and stimulating investment in the visionary masterplan for the Riverbank Precinct,’ said Andrew Russell, Project Director, Aurecon.

Constructed by McConnell Dowell, the 255 metre long, 8m-wide bridge, has been designed to mirror the River Torrens with 2000sqm of curved glass cladding, to connect two key destination points on the north and south banks.

According to Peter Tonkin, Director of TZG, the notion of ‘touching the ground lightly’ drove the design team to consider a method that would allow the bridge to be supported by a seemingly minimal structure.

‘It was important to the team that a single pier within the Torrens could suspend the bridge, emphasising the lightness,’ he said.

The bridge profile has been minimised and clad in white glass that reflects both light and water throughout the day, while programmable LED lighting creates a dynamic environment at night.

The design team worked with Cultural Consultant, Karl Telfer from Cultural Research Education and Design (CRED) to facilitate local indigenous links and storytelling within the project.

The south landing hosts a stainless steel artwork where subtle traces of animals etched into the surface of the steel can be seen by day, and representations of the southern constellations can be seen by night.