Story Bridge documents released amid cover-up claims
The Brisbane City Council is releasing all reports linked to maintenance and restoration of footpaths on the Story Bridge, after weeks of mounting pressure from the public and opposition councillors.
During Tuesday's council meeting, Infrastructure Chair Andrew Wines tabled a stack of papers he said was 'all of the reports on the footpath that I have in my possession'.
The reports – seen by this masthead and expected to be accessible on the council's website next week – deemed several parts of the bridge an 'extreme risk' to the public.
The bridge's footpaths were closed about 10 weeks ago while ex-tropical cyclone Alfred lashed the region with winds exceeding 108km/h.
They are yet to reopen, as Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner called on state and federal governments to help fund the as-yet-unspecified cost of maintaining and restoring the bridge.
A report, dated March 5 and referenced by the council last week, recommended the footpaths remain closed until it could be determined they would not collapse under pressure from pedestrians.
But the report provided four options for the paths over the next 12 months: they could be completely closed; closed to the public; they could remain in use after further testing; or they could remain in use while traffic flow was monitored.
'There is a reasonable level of confidence that the footpaths can be operated at the recommended operation loads … [but] for all solutions, spalling risks [concrete chunks of the bridge falling off] are still present and require mitigation as they pose extreme risks,' the report read.
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