Story Bridge is a cantilever bridge that connects the banks of the Brisbane River. As part of the Bradfield Highway, it connects the Fortitude Valley and the urban area of Kangaroo Point.
Even before the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932 Harbour Bridge, the Queensland state government asked architect John Bradfield John Bradfield to design a new bridge in Brisbane. The bridge was named in honour of John Douglas Storey, a prominent politician of the early 20th century.
Located downstream from the Victoria Bridge, Story Bridge was part of a plan devised in the 1920s by University of Queensland professor Roger Hawken. Hawken wanted to build a series of bridges across the Brisbane River, to relieve the Victoria Bridge and divert traffic away from the city's business centre. The first bridge in his plan was the William Jolly Bridge. However, a lack of of funding prevented construction from beginning. In 1926, the Brisbane City Council decided to build a bridge in the Kangaroo Point area, but construction did not begin in May 1935. The foundation stone was laid by the then Premier of Queensland, William Forgan Smith. Work on the bridge was sometimes carried out 24 hours a day, and on 28 October 1939, the two sides of the river were joined. Prior to its completion the bridge was known as the Jubilee Bridge, in honour of King George V. On 6 July 1940, the bridge was inaugurated by Sir Leslie Orme Wilson, Governor of the State of Queensland, and named in honour of John Douglas Storey. The design of the bridge follows that of the famous Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Canada, opened in 1930.
In 1990, car traffic on the Story Bridge was closed so that pedestrians could celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bridge's opening.
