Design team appointed to bring to life $137 million revamp of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge

The team will come up with a design for the bridge revamp, with the construction side of the project to go to tender next year and building work to start in late 2023.

The construction phase is expected to take 12 to 18 months, with major traffic disruption expected, but access across the lake remaining throughout the process.

SMEC chief executive James Phillis said it had assembled a strong team to work closely with the National Capital Authority on strengthening and widening the icon Canberra landmark.

"Our team includes landscape architects and urban designers Spackman Mossop Michaels, architects Tonkin Zulaikha Greer and lighting designers Lighting Art and Science," Mr Phillis said.

"Together we bring an integrated engineering and urban design approach that is sympathetic to the existing bridge, its heritage and location."

The National Capital Authority revealed earlier this year that it was undertaking the massive upgrade of the nearly 60-year-old bridge that crosses Lake Burley Griffin because it was ageing and did not comply with modern Australian safety standards.

The work includes doubling the width of the footpaths across the bridge to safely accommodate walkers, scooters and cyclists using the bridge.

It will also strengthen and widen the road to take account for, not least, the increase in the size and weight of modern vehicles.

Commonwealth Avenue Bridge Renewal project director Greg Tallentire, from the National Capital Authority, said when the bridge was unveiled, in 1963, a car such as an EJ Holden weighed 1300kgs.

Nearly 60 years later, popular cars weighed almost double that - a Ford Ranger weighs 3200kgs and a Tesla Model Y 2000kgs.

"The technology has evolved and we need our infrastructure to evolve with it," he said.

Mr Tallentire said the way Canberrans moved around the city had also changed.

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"We're no longer just jumping in cars," he said.

"There's active transport, scooters, walkers, bikes. Every weekend, it looks like a highway out on the footpath, compared to the road."

There would be an endeavour to separate walkers would from the bikes and scooters in the revamp.

The bridge upgrade, funded by the Commonwealth and managed by the NCA, is entirely separate to any plans by the ACT government for an extension of the light rail south from the city to Woden. If that does go ahead, the light rail route would likely be accommodated on a separate structure between the spans of the bridge.

Canberra MP Alicia Payne, who is also chair of Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, participated in a roundtable discussion about the project on Thursday and toured some of the internal spaces of the bridge, not usually open to the public.

Ms Payne said the $137 million in funding for the project had been allocated by the Federal Government, but would still need to get the green light from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works.

She said the bridge was one of the busiest avenues in Canberra, for both vehicles and pedestrians, only emphasised during Floriade.

"It's obviously a really iconic bridge for Canberra, really part of the look, so it's important that that is maintained and the heritage is taken account of as we upgrade it for the future," Ms Payne said.

She said it was "really good news" that the project had taken its next step, with the design team in place.

And the funding was assured.

"This money already has been committed," Ms Payne said.

Mr Tallentire said four parties had been vying for the design tender.

"We saw a lot of good ideas come up," he said.

The NCA was also working with the ACT Government to take into account any other roadworks it had planned in the area.

He said access across the lake would remain open throughout the construction phase, with part of the bridge closed down at a time.

The design process was expected to take 10 months, with construction to start in late 2023.

The construction work would take 12 to 18 months.

Mr Tallentire said Thursday was an exciting day for the project with the announcement of SMEC as the design partner.

"It's kind of the real start of the project," he said.

Mr Tallentire said the elegant, slimline look of the bridge would remain in any new design.

National Capital Authority chief executive Sally Barnes said the value of the project would have to be approved by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works.

"So that's elected officials from across Australia scrutinising that money and deciding if we are spending that money wisely," she said.

"Our timeline is actually dependent on how long that takes. The public works committee might decide to do hearings."

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