???The new Perth Stadium footbridge will be just as big as Sydney's iconic harbour bridge, WA's planning minister Rita Saffioti said.
"It is an elaborate design, and when you look at the size of it, as I understand, it's comparable to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in height," Ms Saffioti said at a visit to local manufacturer Civmec in Henderson on Sunday morning.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is 134 metres high, almost 50 metres wide and 503 metres long while Perth's new footbridge will span 160 metres at the centre. It is however ging to be much shorter at 370 metres, and much narrower at 9 metres wide.
The total construction cost of the bridge is estimated at $25 million.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the bridge was on track for opening the start of the 2018 AFL season in March, but admitted negotiations with the West Australian Football Commission about a deal for the new stadium were "dragging on."
In August West Australian company Civmec won the contract to build the bridge after a deal with the original builder - Malaysia-based steel company Toyota - was terminated.
The project has been the source of many headaches for the new WA government after it was revealed the budget had blown out by a staggering $16 million in April this year, and the original opening date had been set back almost two years.
The original delay was allegedly due to fabrication issues in Malaysia, with significant delays to steel shipment dates a result of a legal stoush between overseas companies involved in the fabrication.
The Premier said the project would give more than 200 West Australians employment during construction.
"It's all about jobs for Western Australia where it always should have been built," Premier McGowan said.
"Outsourcing the project was a monumental mistake."
The Premier said he did not believe local teams the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers would have to return to "tired old Subi" despite negotiations with the AFL to strike a deal for the new stadium "dragging on".
Last month he said the West Australian Football Commission would not get "a dollar more" than they have been offered under their existing 10-year deal with the state government.
"We are determined to get the best deal for the WA taxpayers'" he said.
"We think we are only days or weeks away from a resolution."
- with Hannah Barry
