Work has commenced on Brisbane's newest riverside public space with the arrival of barges and work crews at Queen's Wharf opposite Southbank.

The $3.6 billion redevelopment will now activate space between the Goodwill Bridge and 1 William Street creating an above-water pedestrian walkway and recreational area called Waterline Park.

The space which partly lies beneath the Riverside Expressway will now be treated with vibrant murals to transform the roadway columns and help revitalise the thoroughfare.

The development will eventually provide the equivalent of 12 football fields of new public realm to the Brisbane CBD.

“The first works will be to construct temporary river-based work platforms and prune the existing mangroves before we start to build the walkway,” Destination Brisbane Consortium project director Simon Crooks said.

“The Mangrove Walk will provide an alternative path from the Botanic Gardens to Queen’s Wharf, with interpretative heritage, integrated sttelling elements and additional mangrove plantings and a rejuvenation program in the area.”

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Contractor Multiplex will use the Brisbane River as the main transport corridor and work platform to ensure there are less heavy vehicles on central transport arteries.

“The barges will be used for piling work to construct the walkway structure, followed by crane work to lift pre-constructed sections of the Mangrove Walk into position,” Crooks said.

Destination Brisbane Consortium appointed an independent panel of Queensland art community representatives to select artwork to feature throughout the precinct’s public spaces.

“The first of these panel-selected art pieces is the highly colourful mural that is now being applied to the underside of the Riverside Expressway,” Crooks said.

“Our panel chose the mural because it uses sub-tropical Queensland colours to portray the tidal changes of the Brisbane River, in a piece designed by Australian artist Alice Lang.”

“We will announce further art work, and the locations where they will be installed, as selections are made.”

The development is scheduled for completion in 2022.