Robert E C
50 Years On
50 years ago today two spans of Hobart's Tasman Bridge fell into the Derwent River after a ship hit a supporting pier.
On January 5, 1975, the SS Lake Illawarra was en route to Risdon with a cargo of zinc concentrate.
As it approached the Tasman Bridge, the captain lost control and the ship struck the bridge, halfway between the central navigation span and the eastern shore.
Parts of the bridge fell onto the 135-metre-long vessel and it quickly sank.
Seven crew members of the Lake Illawarra and five in the four cars that drove over the edge died.
The Marine Board of Inquiry found captain Boleslaw Pelc guilty of careless navigation.
The bridge joins the eastern and western parts of Hobart and until the bridge repairs were complete, two and a half years later, commuters had to queue for ferries or make a 90 minute detour via the next bridge upriver.
The demolished pier wasn't rebuilt. Instead. the two missing spans were replaced by a deeper single span which can be seen in my photo between the third and fourth pair of piers.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-05/tasman-bridge-collapse-50t...
50 Years On
50 years ago today two spans of Hobart's Tasman Bridge fell into the Derwent River after a ship hit a supporting pier.
On January 5, 1975, the SS Lake Illawarra was en route to Risdon with a cargo of zinc concentrate.
As it approached the Tasman Bridge, the captain lost control and the ship struck the bridge, halfway between the central navigation span and the eastern shore.
Parts of the bridge fell onto the 135-metre-long vessel and it quickly sank.
Seven crew members of the Lake Illawarra and five in the four cars that drove over the edge died.
The Marine Board of Inquiry found captain Boleslaw Pelc guilty of careless navigation.
The bridge joins the eastern and western parts of Hobart and until the bridge repairs were complete, two and a half years later, commuters had to queue for ferries or make a 90 minute detour via the next bridge upriver.
The demolished pier wasn't rebuilt. Instead. the two missing spans were replaced by a deeper single span which can be seen in my photo between the third and fourth pair of piers.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-05/tasman-bridge-collapse-50t...