Bridgewater Bridge …

I endorse the sentiments of Lance Wiggins (RACT News 9/09/2014) that the Derwent River be accessible to all forms of boating and other recreational activities, while respecting the natural environment.

The importance of the river as a tourist and recreational resource must be recognised and expanded to allow future economic gains for Hobart and surrounding suburbs and towns.

One way is to commence construction of the new Bridgewater Bridge immediately. Currently the Bridge is a major bottleneck on intrastate land transportation, as well as water-based activities and this will only get worse in the future, with the potential for closure in the event of a serious road crash.

Detailed planning should begin now so contracts for construction and earthworks can be let. The design has seen extensive community consultation and has the support of all stake holders – residents, councils, land and water transport operators etc. I was part of the consultation process in the late 1990s, and again two years ago and like all participants hoped for an immediate start. About a year ago acquisition of the land corridor began; most properties have now been acquired and the rest will be finalized soon.

Since that time is seems nothing has happened.

If planning had been more advanced it would have allowed contractors on the Brighton bypass to tender for this project, thus giving continuity of employment to workers in the Construction Industry. If funds allocated for the Midlands Highway were used for the bridge planning work much of the land based earth works could begin now; this would make delays in completion of the structure less of a problem to land and water based transportation

Recently the lifting span was refurbished for 15 million dollars and I understand such sums will be needed every 5 years to keep the structure safe and in working order; this money would be better spent on the replacement bridge.

The Bridgewater causeway is a two km section of the National Highway designed for a traffic flow at about 100km per hour. Currently this is limited to 60km per hour but for a few hours each morning and afternoon it is closer to 10km per hour. The back-up of vehicles on the Granton side often extends for two or more kilometres.

While the lifting span is in good condition it is a fragile structure.

I understand that if a large truck struck the bridge the damage would require closing this section until a replacement was built. This would mean immense disruption to the freight transport and commuter travel in Tasmania, as was the case thirty years ago when the bridge was closed for several weeks for reconstruction.

At that time it severely disrupted freight transport, commuter traffic and emergency services but also had a substantial impact on the Glenorchy city economy as most people used the Eastern shore route and so ended up shopping in the Hobart CBD or Eastern Shore shopping centres

Considering all these issues I strongly recommend public support for an immediate start to planning for the bridge, with land based earthworks to begin as soon as possible. This would not only create a major employment initiative, it would also ensure continuity of work for local contractors.

It is vitally important to avoid disruption to the economy of Southern Tasmania in the event of a crash at the lift span, which would also be an easy target for a terrorist attack.

Please remember the disruption and economic impact of the Tasman Bridge Disaster in 1975. If the lift span on the Bridgewater Bridge is damaged beyond repair a similar situation would arise. It would have a more significant economic impact than the Tasman Bridge Disaster since, even if an immediate start was made on a new bridge it would take a minium of four years to complete.