The Derwent Bridge by seamandrew
Not much exciting about the Derwent bridge. Structurally, it's not very impressive, but the view going across the Derwent River is excellent. Also, if you drive across, you have to pay attention to which lanes go which way. That is to say, the bridge has 5 lanes and depending on the time of the day, the middle lane switches from Hobart inbound to Hobart outbound and back. You'll have to cross it on your way from Hobart to the Airport or vice-versa.Well according to fellow VT'er ScottForster, in 1973 at about 3am a large barge, the
Illawarra, ran into a pylon and two sections of the bridge descended into the river. Several cars plunged into the river after the sections had collapsed. There is a classic picture of a car poised with it's front wheels hanging over
the edge of the bridge. Instantly Hobart was a divided city and commuters had to travel by boat across the river while it took three years to repair the bridge. So as unimpressive as the Derwent may seem, it has a somewhat dark blemish in its history.
