Rob Reacts to... The Tasman Bridge Disaster 1975

What happened to the Tasman Bridge in 1975! A real disaster in Tasmania.

[crackers]

Rob, by coincidence about 2 weeks ago I was visiting the Trafalgar Holden museum and had a half hour chat with Frank Manley who still owns his dark green HQ Holden Monaro that teetered over the edge. (The graphic in the video is incorrect by showing an earlier style Monaro). He was taking his new Monaro for a run that Sunday. There were 4 occupants and they managed to scramble out of the 2 door car. Whew! Officials wanted to push the car over the edge but they eventually dragged it back and he still drives it. He is 90+ years old and still a bright and cheery fella. Thanks for showing this one.

[socluded]

I commented on this video. Here is the text.

My grandmother was crossing the bridge when the boat struck it. She was wondering why the lights had gone out and only saw the car in front of her had stopped when it was too late to stop. She was the car that struck the station wagon and knocked the front wheels over the edge. She lived another 20 years after that night and we were thankful that the car she hit saved her and that the car wasn’t knocked over the edge too.

[music]

Rob, other Australian disasters which may interest you are: The Westgate Bridge collapse in Melbourne, The Granville Train disaster in Sydney and the Thredbo Avalanche, in Thredbo NSW, which is just north of the Victorian/NSW border. There was a movie made about the Thredbo incident, which was quite good, it started Craig Mclaughan as Stewart Diver, who was a true central character in the disaster

[JayWhy]

I personally think this was the best documentary I've ever watched about the disaster, explaining the whole event in great detail.

[toddavis]

Tomorrow is actually the anniversary of 2 big Australian disasters. Firstly was the 1978 Granville rail disaster where about 80 people died, and secondly the 2003 Canberra bushfires where 4 people died and over 500 houses lost.
It would definitely be worth trying to find something on the Granville incident.

[WaDarkPhoenix]

My Pop (grandfather) was actually on the bridge when the disaster occurred. If he had been even 20seconds faster on his travel, he would have ended up in the river.
I absolutely hate driving across the Tasman Bridge, horrible narrow lanes and everyones manners seem to go out the window when they hit the bridge, can be really rough to merge and get in the right lane.
If you want to check out more historical bad things happening in Tasmania, you should watch something on the Port Arthur Massacre. Funnily enough something else a family member of mine narrowly missed. They were supposed to be at the cafe that it happened at, but had cancelled the trip due to an illness.

[sarg]

Yeh mate, definitely a sad tragedy for all involved.
All traffic is now stopped crossing the bridge once a ship is headed to go under it.
Take care cobber 🇦🇺👍

[fortymillioncoins]

On the night, my mother changed lanes numerous times, venturing into the lane to cross the bridge, and then changing her mind again and returning to the lane that would take us home. In the end she decided it was a bit late to go visiting an Uncle in Linisfarne and we set out for home. The News story came through on the car radio shortly thereafter. We felt we had a lucky escape.

[megs]

I have a playlist of Tasmania's greatest disasters, there's a video about this, ...but I wasn't born when we had the fires...it left me speechless and in tears, no-one really talks about Tasmania, and there was a lot I didn't know, I found out how much Tasmanians In the past went through...how strong they were and how quiet they were about it 🙂👍💞.

[megs]

Thank you Rob, I was only 5 when this happened, my eldest sons father had just come off the bridge when it was hit. Being so small In Tasmania so many people were so deeply affected it's never been forgotten 💔❤️‍🩹.

[Bobsyagod]

On a sunny day when it hasn't been raining lately so less silt in the river, you can still see the Lake Illawara under the bridge along with some of the concrete.

[class]

Traffic is now stopped any time a large ship goes underneath. Also a note on the extra lane; it's only 1 extra lane total, not one in each direction, meaning 5 in total now. The middle lane is reversible, heading into the CBD of a morning and outbound from 9am onwards.

[peedah]

I remember when this happened and the images of those cars on the front page of the newspaper has stayed with me all of this time. Thinking about the poor people who drove over and what they must have experienced for those few seconds really upset me as a child

[aussiejohn]

I was staying in Lindisfarne which is a suburb of Hobart and crossed the bridge many times in 1974 until I returned to Sydney in September of 1974. I was shocked to hear that the Bridge had collapsed in 1975. Sydney supplied Hobart with ferries until the bridge was repaired. I remember this incident well and had I extended my stay in Hobart and maintained my travel patterns, I could have been on the bridge at that time.

[Mirrorgirl]

In the early hours of Christmas morning 1974, Cyclone Tracy destroyed Darwin. The Australian people were heartbroken at the plight of the people of Darwin. On the night of the 5th of January, there was a nationwide appeal on television, with stars from film, television and theatre lending their performances to raise money. As this show as was on television live, it was announced during the broadcast, that the Hobart Bridge had collapsed. Shocking tragedy upon tragedy.
It would be worth your reacting Cyclone Tracy.

[kerra]

ThanksRob, I knew nothing about this disaster, I found it fascinating.

[warwickofnorwich]

In a similar vein, the Ash Wednesday bushfires are coming up to their 40th anniversary. (Feb 16). At the time they were the worst bushfires we had (in terms of loss of life) and they were the first massive fires of the modern era. Even with the technology they had back then a lot of mistakes were made on that day. (I know, my mum and I were the first people to fight the Adelaide Hills one. With only potato sacks). It definitely changed they way fire events and potential fire events were handled.

[starlightshimmery]

I was very young when this happened and it made such a big impact. We visited Hobart not long after & I still clearly remember the big gap in the bridge and driving past on the detour around.

[PiersDJackson]

It should be pointed out that around the same time the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne had a similar issue.... but the quirky titbit is a section of the faulty design sits in a courtyard at in Monash University's Civil Engineering Faculty.... most Arts Students believe it's an abstract sculptural installation, and identify it as such when giving campus tours for potential students.

[svc]

I watched the bridge go down noticing the boat off course. A few days late I met the Captain and was stunned how ungrateful he was for any help and how little he seemed to care about the lives lost