Published Resources Details
Conference Paper
- Title
- Hobart's floating bridge
- In
- 16th Engineering Heritage Australia Conference: Conserving Our Heritage - Make a Difference!
- Imprint
- Engineers Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2011, pp. 476-483
- ISBN/ISSN
- 9780858258877
- Url
- https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.895216399058444
- Abstract
The wide Derwent Estuary formed a natural barrier between Hobart on the western shore and the growing settlements and farms to the east. Crossings depended on passenger and vehicular ferries but there was a growing need for easier access. Many different designs for bridging the estuary had been suggested and abandoned over the years. At last in 1936 Alan Knight, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, proposed a curved floating concrete bridge with a lift span for shipping as a feasible and affordable solution. The Hobart Bridge Company obtained Government approval and financed the project, hoping to profit from land appreciation on the eastern shore. Construction began in April 1938 and the bridge opened in December 1943. After 21 years of service, the two-lane floating bridge was removed and little evidence of this innovative structure remains. Its high level four-lane replacement immediately downstream opened in 1964.
Related Published resources
isPartOf
- 16th Engineering Heritage Australia Conference: Conserving Our Heritage - Make a Difference! (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2011), 551 pp, https://search.informit.org/doi/book/10.3316/informit.9780858258877. Details