A City Divided: The Tasman Bridge Disaster

On Sunday 5 January 1975 the bulk carrier Lake Illawarra collided with the Tasman Bridge. Two piers collapsed and a long section of road decking fell into the Derwent River along with five cars on the bridge. Five people died whilst several others managed to escape from two vehicles which teetered on the edge. Seven crewmen from the Lake Illawarra also perished.

Clarence City Council will be re-running its immensely popular exhibition through January to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the disaster. The exhibition explores the personal stories related to the bridge disaster and its importance in the development of the Eastern Shore through the use of oral history recordings, photographs, archival film footage and artefacts from the Lake Illawarra.