Tasman Bridge

Tasman Bridge
Coordinates	42°51′54″S 147°20′33″E / 42.86500°S 147.34250°E / -42.86500; 147.34250
Carries	Tasman Highway
Crosses	River Derwent
Locale	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Maintained by	Department of State Growth
Characteristics
Design	Prestressed concrete Girder
Total length	1,395 metres (4,577 ft)
Width	17.5 metres (57 ft)
Height	60.5 metres (198 ft)
Longest span	95 metres (312 ft)
Clearance below	46 metres (151 ft)
No. of lanes	5
History
Constructed by	Reed & Mallik
Fabrication by	Braithwaite & Co.
Construction start	May 1960; 63 years ago (1960-05)
Construction end	23 December 1964; 58 years ago (1964-12-23)
Opened	18 August 1964; 59 years ago (1964-08-18) (2 lanes) 23 December 1964; 58 years ago (1964-12-23) (4 lanes) 18 March 1965; 58 years ago (1965-03-18) (official)
Statistics
Daily traffic	73,029 (May 2019)[1]
Location

The Tasman Bridge is a bridge that carries the Tasman Highway over the River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Including approaches, the bridge has a total length of 1,396 metres (4,580 ft) and it provides the main traffic route from the Hobart city centre (on the western shore) to the eastern shore. The bridge has a separated pedestrian footway on each side. There is no dedicated lane for bicycles; however, steps to the pedestrian footway were replaced with ramps in 2010.^[2]

History

In the 1950s with the development of the Eastern shore, it was decided to build a larger bridge; the old Hobart Bridge faced increasing difficulty in managing the larger volumes of traffic that came with development, and constantly raising the lift span for shipping was disruptive. In November 1959 Reed & Mallik were awarded a contract to build the bridge.^[3]

Construction commenced in May 1960 and the first two lanes bridge opened on 18 August 1964.^[4][5] The other two lanes opened on 23 December 1964. It was officially opened on 18 March 1965 by Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

Disaster

On 5 January 1975, the Tasman Bridge was struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, bound for EZ Industries' Risdon Zinc Works with a cargo of 9,072 tonnes (10,000 short tons) of zinc concentrate.^[6] It caused two pylons and three sections of concrete decking, totalling 127 metres (417 ft), to fall from the bridge and sink the ship. Seven of the ship's crew were killed, and five motorists died when four cars drove over the collapsed sections before the traffic was stopped. A major press shot showed a Holden Monaro HQ and Holden EK perched balancing on the ledge.^[7]

The depth of the river at this point is 35 metres (115 ft). The wreck of Lake Illawarra still lies on the bottom, with concrete slab on top of it, without presenting a navigation hazard to smaller vessels.

The breakage of an important arterial link isolated the residents in Hobart's eastern suburbs – the relatively short drive across the Tasman Bridge to the city suddenly became a 50-kilometre (31 mi) journey via the estuary's next bridge at Bridgewater. The only other vehicular crossing within Hobart after the bridge collapsed was the Risdon Punt, a cable ferry which crossed the river from East Risdon and Risdon, some five kilometres (3.1 mi) upstream from the bridge. It was totally inadequate, carrying only eight cars on each crossing, and although ferries provided a service across the river; it was not until December 1975 that a two lane, 788-metre-long (2,585 ft) bailey bridge was opened to traffic, two kilometres (1.2 mi) to the north from Dowsing Point to Cleburne Point thereby restoring some connectivity.^[8] The bailey bridge remained in use until replaced by the Bowen Bridge in 1984.^[9]

The separation of Hobart saw an immediate surge in the small and limited ferry service then operating across the river.^[6] In a primary position to provide a service were the two ferries of Bob Clifford.^{[citation needed]} He had introduced the locally-built ferries Matthew Brady and James McCabe to the river crossing, from the Hobart city centre to the eastern shore, shortly before the collision. These were soon joined by the MV Cartela, a wooden vessel of 1912 vintage, and Kosciusko, Lady Ferguson and Lady Wakehurst that were loaned by the New South Wales Public Transport Commission.^[10][11]

Reconstruction

Reconstruction of the Tasman Bridge by John Holland commenced in October 1975. An important factor of the reconstruction is the improved safety measures. Some examples:

• Large vessels passing beneath the bridge must now do so slightly to the west of the original main navigation span.
• Personnel controlling ships (or harbor pilots) must be trained and then cleared for using the special laser lighthouse that indicates by colours whether the ship must be steered left or right to regain the centre line.
• All road traffic is now halted whilst large vessels transit beneath the bridge.

On top of the new safety measures implemented, the bridge was further upgraded to hold a fifth lane.^[6][12][13] This upgrade included the construction of a lane management system which would enable the new middle lane to function as a reversible lane. The system consists of a traffic light system and a sign above each lane, pictured right. The signs, in conjunction with the traffic light system, employ a pulley system to periodically pull the signs over their appropriate lanes.

The middle lane points towards the city side (or western shore) during a.m. peak hours and points back towards the eastern shore during p.m. peak hours. The lane generally points towards the eastern shore during non-peak hours.

The Tasman Bridge repair took two years and cost approximately $44 million.^[12] The bridge reopened on 8 October 1977.^[6][12][14]

On 20 June 2007, a crane toppled whilst carrying out works on the bridge, and precariously hung for a number of hours off the side of the barriers.^[15]

LED upgrade

In 2019 the Hobart City Council commissioned Decrolux to convert the Tasman bridge's fluorescent lighting with modern LED lighting. Spanning almost 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) and utilising 1,930 LEDs, the project was completed in 2021. The lights are remotely programmable and have been used to celebrate Dark Mofo and the Hobart Hurricanes, as well as to show support for causes including Women's Health Week and Men's Health Week.^[16]

Gallery

Panorama of the Tasman Bridge at night.

• 

  View of the bridge from the eastern shore

• 

  Looking towards the Tasman Bridge from Montagu Bay

• 

  Dinghy and the bridge.

• 

  The repaired bridge span

• 

  The view of the Bridge from Mount Wellington

• 

  A view of the bridge from the river

• 

  Tasman Bridge from the Western shore

• 

  Entering the bridge from the eastern shore

• 

  Entering the bridge from the west side

See also

• List of disasters in Australia by death toll

References

• Reference: Lewis, Tom. By Derwent Divided. Darwin: Tall Stories, 1999.
• Ludeke, M. (2006) Ten Events Shaping Tasmania's History. Hobart: Ludeke Publishing.

External links

Media related to Tasman Bridge at Wikimedia Commons

• Live webcam view of Hobart including the Tasman Bridge
• Traffic camera view of the Tasman Bridge
• Archival photographs of construction of the Tasman Bridge: page 1, page 2.
• 1995 article about Tasman Bridge safety
• Hobart To Tasman Bridge 1938–2000
• Tasman Bridge at Structurae