West Gate Bridge - Melbourne

Location: Yarra River, Melbourne
Opened: 1978

The 2.5 kilometre West Gate Bridge was completed in 1978 and is the second longest bridge in Australia. Carrying up to 200,000 vehicles per day, the bridge forms a link between the CBD and Geelong and is one of Melbourne's biggest corridors.

Twice as long as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the West Gate Bridge was a toll road until 1985. Speed Cameras built on the bridge in 2004 have been deactivated since 2005 as the sway of bridge causes issues in accurately identifying the speed.

On October 15, 1970, two years into the construction of the bridge, 35 workers were killed when a 112 metre section of the bridge fell 50 metres in to the water. A 1971 Royal Commission into the collapse attributed it to errors in the structural design and an unusual method of construction.

Related:
Queens Bridge
Bolte Bridge