The Kids' Bridge.
The Foundation on the frontline
“The Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation is delighted to fund what we believe is a wonderful legacy to WA’s sick children and their families. The Kids’ Bridge will be an outstanding addition to the world class facility that is the Perth Children’s Hospital. We applaud the WA Government for so enthusiastically supporting this milestone project.”
Hon. Ian Campbell, Chairman Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation
The Kids' Bridge is now open!
We are excited to announce that the Kids' Bridge (dual name Koolangka Bridge meaning 'children' in Noongar) is now officially open to the public. The bridge will provide families, children and staff using facilities on the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre campus with the opportunity to escape the rigours of their hospital journey by safely visiting Kings Park.
About the Bridge
The Kids’ Bridge, which has been made possible by a $6.3 million funding commitment from the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, has been built over Winthrop Avenue to connect the outdoor area between Perth Children’s Hospital and the multi-story carpark on the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre to Kings Park bushland.
The concept for a Kids’ Bridge was first suggested more than 10 years ago by the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation during early planning for the new Perth Children’s Hospital. The hospital executive then invited ideas from a group of children on the then Children’s Advisory Committee about what facilities they believed would benefit sick children and their families.
Coincidentally the children said having easy access to Kings Park via a bridge over Winthrop Avenue would give them much needed respite and distraction from the rigors of their medical treatment and some reprieve from their clinical environment. There is strong evidence that the power of nature in healing is enormous: a range of therapies in natural settings are evidenced to contribute to the wellbeing and recovery rates of sick kids.
QEII Campus staff will also benefit from the bridge through increased access to existing cycling paths and pedestrian travel to work and the ability to use the park for fitness, lifestyle and work break activities.
However, access to Kings Park from the Perth Children’s Hospital site is very poor. There are currently two main pedestrian crossings from the QEIIMC campus to Kings Park. The first crossing is at the far north east corner of the eastern car park and requires pedestrians to cross five lanes of traffic in order to access park lands. The second crossing is at the far south east corner of the eastern car park and requires pedestrians to cross nine lanes of traffic in order to access park lands.
The construction of a pedestrian bridge that begins from the Northern Greenspace directly adjacent to the Perth Children’s Hospital site to Kings Park addresses the opportunity to provide safe access to sick kids and their families and QEII Campus staff to this outstanding natural environment. In addition it would broaden access for pedestrians and cyclists who currently don’t use the Park for commuting purposes.
Bridge Benefits
- A link to opportunities for play, recreation, relaxation, reflection and respite for hospital staff, patients and visitors.
- Improved health and wellbeing through connection to nature.
- Clinical opportunities using the bridge in Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
- Vital access for Indigenous and other patients and their families for whom the hospital precinct is so foreign
- Health benefits realised for campus staff through increased access to cycling and pedestrian paths, providing the ability to use the park for fitness, recreation and work breaks.
Bridge Design
The project includes a single span, pedestrian and cycle structure over Winthrop Avenue and associated paths connecting Hospital Avenue on the QEIIMC Site with the May Avenue Parkland located in Kings Park.
The existing dual-use path running parallel to Winthrop Avenue from the point at which the new bridge will land through to the May Avenue Parkland will be changed to pedestrian-use only, and upgraded to make it suitable for those temporarily or permanently impaired. This will have minimal impact on Kings Park. On the QEIIMC site, the bridge will connect into the elevated section of the Northern Green Space between the Perth Children’s Hospital and the multi-deck car-park.
Design engineers AECOM have been appointed to review the current design of the Kids’ Bridge to reflect cost expectations and incorporate specific requirements from key stakeholders.
Bridge Progress
-
Late 2019 - Early 2020
Planning and Preliminary Design -
2020
Detailed Design -
Mid-To-Late 2020
Construction Tender -
Early 2021 - Mid 2021
Construction
Bridge Media
Please direct any media inquiries to:
Donna Hall
Head of Marketing
donna.hall@pchf.org.au
Carrick Robinson
Chief Executive Officer
0421 048 716
carrick.robinson@pchf.org.au
Bridge FAQs
The Kids Bridge will provide sick children who are in PCH (and their families) with the opportunity to escape the rigours of their hospital stay by safely visiting Kings Park. Clinicians strongly agree that providing the opportunity to visit places like Kings Park is positive for sick children’s overall health and wellbeing. Health benefits will also be realised for campus staff through increased access to existing cycling paths and pedestrian travel to work, and the ability to use the park for fitness, lifestyle and work break activities.
Bridge project commenced in 2012 but was put on hold due to prioritising the more important build and transition into the new Children’s Hospital.
The Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation are paying for the bridge design and construction through the generosity of private donors. The construction project management and ongoing maintenance costs of the bridge will be met by Main Roads bridge and road maintenance budget.
Main Roads will project manage the design and construction and meet the ongoing maintenance needs for the Bridge.
The Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority (BGPA) has been engaged for some time regarding the concept design. Main Roads is working with BGPA representatives to minimise the project footprint on flora and fauna in the park, and will be seeking their board’s endorsement of the design in the coming weeks.
Yes, trees and some vegetation will need to be removed for construction purposes. Main Roads will continue to work with the BGPA to manage the implications to vegetation within the park, and the City of Perth for verges and medians on Winthrop Avenue.
AECOM has been appointed to develop the final design of the Kids Bridge with a focus on project management, costs and constructability requirements and to incorporate key stakeholder requirements.
AECOM competitively tendered for the bridge’s detailed design work, nominating the design cost as part of this process. The cost of building the bridge will be determined as part of a competitive tender process for construction.
The Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation is strongly committed to building the new Kids’ Bridge. We will wait to see what final costings are presented to build the new Kids’ Bridge as part of the competitive construction tender process, however, initial cost estimates of the current concept design are below previously quoted figures.
Construction tenders will be advertised in the second quarter of 2020.
Following the completion of the construction tender assessment in late 2020.
In the second half of 2021.
Details about how the bridge will be built will be confirmed once a final design is completed towards the middle of 2020.
The successful construction contractor will determine the construction program for the bridge in the future including any traffic impacts. More information regarding traffic and implications for Kings Park will be available later in 2020.
Based on present planning, the new Kids Bridge will connect the grassed area between Perth Children’s Hospital and the multi-storey car park to the adjacent Kings Park bushland and a short walk to May Drive Parkland in Kings Park.
Main Roads will be engaging with the local community during the detailed design and construction phase of the project, and will be able to address questions or concerns as the detailed design process is progressed.
Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation, QEII Medical Centre Trust, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Child and Adolescent Health Service and City of Perth and Main Roads Western Australia. The Office of the State Architect will also review the design.
Main Roads will seek formal project approvals from the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority Board and Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre Trust Board as the detailed design progresses. A Development Application will also be submitted to Western Australian Planning Commission during the detailed design process.
Feature lighting opportunities will be investigated as part of the detailed design process.
The Fratelle Group provided early concept design materials in-line with the requirements of the Department of Health led competition they won some years ago.
While Main Roads obtained the State-owned intellectual property from the Frantelle Group during early concept design development the AECOM design concept has a more conservative focus on the project management and constructability requirements of the future bridge.
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