Charles Grimes Bridge

About

The Charles Grimes Bridge is a dual-carriageway bridge that carries the Docklands Highway over the Yarra River in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Australia. It was named after New South Wales surveyor general Charles Grimes, who was the first European to see the Yarra River. This crossing of the Yarra River was located approximately 700 m (2,300 ft) downstream of the Spencer Street Bridge, supporting dual four-lane structures; the Country Roads Board (later VicRoads) began construction on the bridge and its approach roads in January 1975.

It connected Footscray Road on the northern side of the river to Johnson, Lorimer, Montague and Brady Streets on the south side of the river, and was designed to be compatible with a future extension of the West Gate Freeway. The low clearance of the new bridge over the water would prevent shipping access to wharves and dry-dock facilities upstream, resulting in the closure of a number of the river wharves on the upstream side. The bridge was known during the construction as the Johnson Street Bridge, and was opened under that name by the Acting Minister of Transport, the Hon A H Scanlan MP, on 4 August 1978, with the total cost of the bridge...