Work has finished on two innovative bridges across Cowies Creek in Seagull Paddock, North Geelong, designed to last for more than a century without maintenance.
The bridges are made from a world-first geopolymer designed to be maintenance-free for at least 100 years.
The new geopolymer is extremely long-lasting and uses up to 80 per cent less greenhouse gases in production than concrete.
The concept for the bridges came out of a City of Greater Geelong ‘procurement for innovation’ process, where companies were invited to come up with a solution to an unmet need, such as the costly maintenance and waste problem associated with traditional bridges.
Usually made of timber, steel or concrete, traditional bridges cost the city around $500,000 to inspect, repair, maintain and replace each year.
The geopolymer for the Cowies Creek bridges was created by a group of local companies and organisations working together, Austeng, Rocla and Deakin.
City innovative solutions portfolio chairman, Cr Peter Murrihy, said the procurement for innovation process encouraged sustainable innovation in line with the city’s 30-year vision.
“Through this clever and creative procurement process we have come up with these new icons for Geelong that represent our passion for innovation and sustainability,” he said.
“These world-first bridges showcase our global reputation as a UNESCO Creative City of Design and support the community’s vision for Geelong to be known as a clever and creative city-region.”
Austeng managing director Ross George said Austeng was proud to be part of the innovative process that created the age-defying bridges.
“This project gave us a unique opportunity to collaborate and develop a novel approach to one of the city’s existing challenges,” he said.
“Our long term aspirations are for Geelong to be the geopolymer centre of excellence, capitalising on its exciting environmental advantages and ultimately, creating local jobs and generating more opportunities for growth.”
The procurement for innovation process that inspired the new product for the age-defying bridges was led by Cleantech Innovations Geelong.
Cleantech Innovations Geelong is an industry support program funded by the City of Greater Geelong, the Victorian government and the Geelong Manufacturing Council to drive investment in clean technologies.
