The Westgate Bridge

The Westgate Bridge is the major bridge linking western and eastern Melbourne.  As such, it is often seen as symbolic of the divide between the different parts of Melbourne.  I know residents of the eastern suburbs who have literally never driven over that bridge.

I recently had the opportunity to go on a boat tour of the Port of Melbourne precinct, and took some photos of the bridge at angles you normally never see it at, so I thought I'd post them here for anyone who's interested to view.

Many people think of the bridge as being isolated and industrial, but there's actually quite a lot of parkland around the bridge area.  There's even a golf course under the western approaches - you do the first hole on the southern side of the bridge and then the next tee is literally directly under it.

Next to the golf course is a sports field where football and cricket are played.  Apparently a few stray balls have ended up on the freeway!

The bridge was built so high to enable large container ships to pass under, as some of the key Port docks are upriver.  It's an amazing sight seeing those enormous ships entering and departing the Port and going under the bridge.  At high tide some of them only just squeeze under!