Story Bridge Climb

Yesterday I climbed the Story Bridge. The climb was a present from Tobias and Christoffer on Fathers Day.

The Story Bridge crosses the Brisbane River and connects Fortitude Valley to Kangaroo Point and is one of Brisbane's most recognisable icons.

The morning was a bit hectic as I had to dash out to the West End market and by rye bread and fruit before heading off to the bridge. And to make things a little more exiting I also had to pop by work to print my climb confirmation slip. With some help from my bike and a little running along on the way I made it to the bridge climb headquarters on time @ 9:45.

Our instructor (Jeremy) took us through all the formalities including an alcohol breath test. Climbing on the bridge is prohibited with a blood alcohol concentration higher than 0.05 per cent (the legal limit for drivers).

Equipped with a climbing harness, jump suit, radio equipment and other miscellaneous accessories and a brief instruction we started the climb.

Suffice it to say I felt pretty ridiculous dressed up in the outfit provided. The jump suit in particular was …. well don’t ask. But what we were lacking on the fashion front was made up for on the tech side. I was very pleased to try out a pair of temple transducers from Motorola. I have seen these many times in the past but had never tried them before. The temple transducer uses bone conduction technology, so you can receive audio without covering the ear. The receiver portion rests on the temples. The sound vibration is transmitted through the surrounding human tissue and bone directly into the inner ear. With them Jeremy was in crystal clear commando style contact with us throughout the climb.

The bridge climb starts on a spiral staircase that takes you up to the underside of the bridge, where a walkway has been built. Stairs take you up and above the pedestrian walkway and cars driving below, to the viewing platform on the main South pier (approximately 80 meters above sea level). This is the main look-out point.

We stayed up there for 15 minutes and enjoyed the panorama view. Then we descended to the middle of the bridge. This was the halfway point of the climb. After a short stop we ascended again to the top of the main pier and from there descended back down to climb headquarters.

The climb is enjoyable. It isn’t strenuous at all for anyone with a reasonable fitness. If you have acrophobia (a fear of heights) it is probably not the right activity to undertake, but for everyone else it shouldn’t be a problem. Obviously, the main attraction of the climb is the view and it doesn’t disappoint. Our guide Jeremy also did an excellent job of providing facts and figures and historic commentary on the immediate surroundings.

The bridge was constructed as a public works program during the Great Depression. As such it was a means of boosting morale and creating employment. Construction began on the bridge in 1935 and was opened five years later in 1940. More than 300 men were employed for its design and construction and the structure contains nearly 12,000 tonnes of steel. It is named after John Douglas Story, a senior and influential public servant.

Oh yeah….and I received this certificate as proof of my climb ;-).