West Gate Bridge West Gate Bridge

The mighty West Gate Bridge spans the 2.5 kms of Yarra river that separates Melbourne's western suburbs from its CBD.

It is one of Australia's biggest cable-stayed girder bridges and is used by 200K+ vehicles daily.

Building commenced in 1968 and completed in 1978. After 10 years of construction, the bridge cost $202 million.

Disaster: On Thursday 15th October 1970 (during construction), the bridge collapsed killing 35 workers. Commemorations have been held on 15 October every year since the collapse. | Read More

West Gate Bridge

With its distinctive curving shape, the West Gate Bridge is instantly recognisable as one of the city's iconic structures.

The West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge with five lanes of motor vehicle traffic in each direction.

The bridge spans the Yarra River north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city (CBD) and Melbourne's western suburbs; with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city of Geelong, 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south-west.

The main river span is 336 metres (1,102 ft) in length, and the height above the water is 58 metres. The total length of the bridge is 2,582.6 metres (8,473.1 ft). It is the third longest bridge in Australia and is twice as long as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The bridge passes over Westgate Park, a large environmental and recreational reserve created during the bridge's construction.

Flags

In March 2007 the State Government announced that two flagpoles would be erected to fly the Australian and Victorian flags which were unfurled on 24 September 2008.

On 11 March 2014 a special flag was raised on the western side of the bridge as part of the 'Melbourne Now' exhibition, 'On Top of the World: Flags for Melbourne'.

❊ What's On ❊

➼ West Gate Bridge Disaster | 1970 - 2025 - Wednesday 15 October 2025

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ West Gate Bridge 

➼ www.wikipedia.org/West_Gate_Bridge

❊ Also See... ❊

➼ Westgate Punt






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