The Bowen Bridge is a segmental cantilever road bridge crossing the River Derwent in Tasmania, Australia. The bridge serves as a vital transportation link in the state capital of Hobart, facilitating the movement of vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists between the local government areas of Clarence on the eastern shore and Glenorchy on the western shore. The Bowen Bridge links the East Derwent Highway with the Brooker Highway (as Goodwood Road) at Glenorchy, approximately from the Hobart central business district.

The Bowen Bridge is composed of eight river spans, each measuring . The end spans are and long. It maintains a consistent deck width of , accommodating a divided highway with two lanes each, along with two separated shared-use walkways.

The Bowen Bridge takes its name from British colonist John Bowen, who founded the first European settlement in Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) at Risdon Cove on the eastern shore. Bowen subsequently moved the colony to the western side of the River Derwent, where the Hobart city centre is located today. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser revealed the bridge's name at a public ceremony at Dowsings Point on 10 October 1980.

History

Situated approximately halfway between the Tasman Bridge and the Bridgewater Bridge, the Bowen Bridge was constructed to mitigate any future failure of the city's bridges following the Tasman Bridge disaster. The State and Federal governments established the Joint Committee in November 1975 to oversee the design and construction of a bridge across the River Derwent near Dowsings Point. Maunsell & Partners served as consulting engineers and Leighton Contractors-Candac, awarded the contract in 1980, completed the construction.

Design

The foundational design primarily aimed to ensure the river piers could withstand impacts from barges traveling at operating speeds () assisted by the current (). All piers were specifically engineered to endure an impact force of at an angle of up to 45 degrees from the pile cap centre line, while other directions could sustain a force of . This approach accounted for potential impact from future river barges of up to of deadweight tonnage. The underlying philosophy involved creating substantial gravity-based foundation structures capable of generating adequate force to absorb the energy and deform the bows of barges during impact.

The bridge cost $49 million to construct and was officially opened on 23 February 1984 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

References

Sources

  • History