Thread: Tasman Bridge Disaster

Thanks Chuckie, I didn't know that was how Incat started.

I've got one of these gismos in my boat. It is known as a fish finder.

Astonishing how fast time goes bye.

I remember that really clearly... my dad was civil engineer - big bridges are his thing, so it was talked about a lot at home.

I was in high school when that happened, but it just doesn't feel like nearly 40 years ago!

Thanks Ron.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Filling to shallow water in the Derwent might be a problem, it's a very deep river.

I heard that the depth of water above the highest point of the MV Lake Illawarra is greater than the depth of water under Sydney Harbour Bridge. That is why they haven't needed to remove the wreck.

That might not be true, though as it was a Tasmanian tour boat operator who told me.

A couple of diagrams for you.





[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmzpuBH-Jis]ferryboat shuffle - YouTube[/ame]
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Originally Posted by vnx205

I heard that the depth of water above the highest point of the MV Lake Illawarra is greater than the depth of water under Sydney Harbour Bridge. That is why they haven't needed to remove the wreck.

That might not be true, though as it was a Tasmanian tour boat operator who told me.

The ship is in 35 metres of water. I guess there'd still be 20 metres of water above the ship.

Originally Posted by Bytemrk

Astonishing how fast time goes bye.

I remember that really clearly... my dad was civil engineer - big bridges are his thing, so it was talked about a lot at home.

I was in high school when that happened, but it just doesn't feel like nearly 40 years ago!

Thanks Ron.

I too was amazed that it was 40 years ago. I was 19 at the time. And yes I remember it well. My dad wasn't a civil engineer though.

Having had a read of the history I was also surprised of the social problems it created.

What many people don't realize about this tragedy is that it occurred less than two weeks after Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin.

I have won many bets over the years from people who insisted that the two events were separated by a number of years.

I was working on a prawn trawler at the time - we were on out way to Darwin from Cairns loaded with emergency supplies - tents / tinned food etc that was required in Darwin to help out after the cyclone. Remember hearing the news on the radio about the bridge in Hobart. My parents were quite worried - they were on King Island - thought that I was in Hobart, and couldn't get in contact with me.