The Tasman Bridge disaster occurred on the evening of 5 January 1975, in Hobart, the capital city of Australia's island state of Tasmania, when a bulk ore carrier travelling up the Derwent River collided with several pylons of the Tasman Bridge, causing a large section of the bridge deck to collapse onto the ship and into the river below. Twelve people were killed, including seven crew on board the ship, and the five occupants of four cars which fell 45 m (150 feet) after driving off the bridge. The disaster severed the main link between Hobart and its eastern suburbs, and is notable for the social impacts that resulted from the loss of such an important road artery.
Read more about Tasman Bridge Disaster: Collision and Collapse, Emergency Response, Known Deceased, Memorial
Famous quotes containing the words bridge and/or disaster:
“Home! Yes! she would see Trafalgar Square, again; and Nelson on his plinth; and Chelsea Bridge as it dissolved into the Thames at twilight ... and St. Paul’s, the single Amazon breast of her beloved native city.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“The appropriation of radical thinking by lazy, self-obsessed hippies is a public relations disaster that could cost the earth.”
—Ben Elton (b. 1959)