I took this photo on Friday 17/09/2010. As you may have gathered I love taking photos of iconic views around Hobart. Although a little history couldn’t go astray so…: Tasman Bridge: construction first began in May 1960 and was first completed on December 23rd 1964. Its width is 17.5 meters (from rail to rail), stands 60.5 meters high at it’s apex and is 1,395 meters long. The A3 Tasman Highway runs across it. Disaster, January 5th, 1975. An almighty bang! I actually woke up to this as I was living in Lindisfarne at the time, at approximately 9.27pm the bridge was struck by a bulk ore carrier, The Illawarra, coming up the Derwent to the local Zinc works carrying a load of around 10,000 tons of zinc concentrate. The ship hit the two central pylons collapsing them and causing the 3 main concrete decking sections to fall onto the bridge causing it to sink, lives were lost, both on board the ship and cars that were crossing the bridge at that time. The ship is still there today, the bridge has actually been rebuilt over the top of the carrier and if you venture to Hobart I suggest that you visit our museum as they have a model of the ship with the bridge construction over it.
Lindisfarne bay, I grew up around this area
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasman_Bridge
2 comments:
Hi Laura,
fantastic photos. I have been to Tassie a couple of times whilst I was a jack-tar (RAN). We always had a great time. The hill at the back of Hobart even had snow on it (September?). My mothers family lived there for a few years in the '40's, my Grandfather was the Chief Engineer for the Tasmania Railways. Sadly he passed before I was born and as such I never got to meet him. There may some legacy as I am an electronics technician (bit of a stretch).
Andy (andyjmwills)
Hi Andy, so you are connected to my fair state, come back and visit sometime soon, we love tourists! It's amazing what you can do with an old 5 megapixel camera. It's monday and the snow has nearly melted, all this happened within the space of one week. Nice to meet you!!
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