Editing William Jolly Bridge (section)

== Description ==
The William Jolly Bridge crosses the Brisbane River at the tip of the South Brisbane peninsula between Grey Street, South Brisbane, and North Quay at the intersection of Skew and Saul Streets on the northern bank. The bridge carries four lanes of traffic with pedestrian paths to either side, and retaining walls return at right angles to the bridge at the northern end supporting North Quay above.<ref name="qhr" />
[[File:William Jolly Bridge, South Brisbane 03.JPG|thumb|Viaducts on the southern side ramping down towards Grey Street, 2014]]
The bridge spans between ground level on the higher northern bank, ramping down to Grey Street inland from the southern bank. To achieve this, the bridge was constructed with three major spans of arched ribs across the river, with two smaller arches at the northern embankment and a single arch at the southern embankment, and a viaduct consisting of 16 spans ramping down to Grey Street to the south. The southern ramping section curves towards the southeast in plan, crossing Montague Road to align with Grey Street. The two smaller arches at the northern embankment are no longer extant, and have been replaced by precast, prestressed concrete deck units above Coronation Drive, which links onto the riverside expressway.<ref name="qhr" />

The bridge is constructed of concrete encased steel, with the three major spans of arched ribs rising through the deck. The roadway is partly supported by hangers from the arches which project above, and cross girders and stringers below. The ramping southern section roadway is supported by longitudinal broad flange beams supported by rows of piers, with the southern end abutment being earth filled between reinforced concrete retaining walls.<ref name="qhr" />
[[File:William Jolly Bridge, South Brisbane 02.JPG|thumb|Oversized coursing on the bridge with a contemporary Indigenous mural, 2014]]
A misconception at the time of construction was that the concrete encasing was decorative and was only used to hide the structural steelwork of the bridge. This was incorrect as the bridge was designed as a reinforced concrete structure, with the steelwork acting as reinforcing and the concrete carrying a major part of the load. However, the concrete is also used in a decorative manner to represent oversized [[Course (architecture)|coursing]] on the main piers and [[voussoir]]s on the arched ribs.<ref name="qhr" />

Other decorative features include [[grotesque]]s to the outer face of some [[balustrades]], and a floral-like motif at either side of the top of the four ornamental tower-like elements. These four tower-like elements frame both entrances to the bridge, surmounting the end piers of the cross-river section, and each consists of an arched opening to a projecting [[balcony]] with a stepped crown surmounted by a metal [[spire]]. These were originally intended to have the functional purpose of supporting the overhead cables for the proposed electric tramway.<ref name="qhr" />
[[File:Queensland State Archives 136 William Jolly Bridge Grey Street Brisbane c 1932.png|thumb|Northern approach to the bridge, the top of the stairs down to North Quay is visible to the left, circa 1932]]
The bridge has cast concrete balustrades, and carefully detailed elements such as the curved ends to the concrete encased cross girders beneath the roadway, and the termination blocks for the upper portions of the arched ribs. Openings in the cross girders below the roadway, intended for a major water pipe which was not installed, are evident.<ref name="qhr" />

A pedestrian stair with iron balustrade is located on the southern side of Montague Road and rises through the southwestern footpath. A stair is also located within the [[North Quay retaining wall]] on the northeastern side of the bridge connecting North Quay and Coronation Drive. This stair has a solid concrete balustrade, and is no longer accessible from below.<ref name="qhr" />

Street [[lighting]] has been installed along the length of the bridge, and traffic lights are located at the northern end.<ref name="qhr" />