| Denison Canal | |
|---|---|
 The Denison Canal at Dunalley. | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 0.895 km (0.556 miles) |
| Locks | Nil |
| Status | Open |
| History | |
| Date completed | 1905 |
The Denison Canal is a human-made canal located at Dunalley in southern Tasmania, Australia. [1] The canal opened for use in 1905 and draws its name from former Governor William Denison. The canal was built to shorten the fishing and trade routes between the east coast and Hobart.
Proposals to dig a canal through the East Bay Neck were first made in 1820.[ citation needed ] However, no serious consideration was given to a canal until William Denison became governor in 1847. Denison had previously worked on the Rideau Canal in Canada,[ citation needed ] and commissioned a report into the possibility of building a canal at East Bay Neck in 1854. However, no work took place on the project. [2]
Construction of the canal was revived early in the 20th century. [3] The Tasmanian Government sought tenders for the project in 1901, and the firm Henrikson and Knutson were selected after lodging the lowest price (£17,999). The canal was designed by Napier Bell. While the contract specified that the canal was to be completed by 29 May 1904, the start of work on the project was delayed by negotiations over whether Henrikson and Knutson or the Tasmanian Government would retain ownership of the equipment needed to build the canal once it was complete. [4] The canal was finally opened by Governor Sir Gerald Strickland on 13 October 1905. [4] At this time it was reported to be the second-longest canal in Australia. [4] The Denison Canal was bridged by a hand-operated swing bridge until 1965, when a larger and electrically operated bridge was installed. [2]
The Denison Canal is 895 metres (2,936 ft) long, or 2.42 kilometres (1.50 mi) long if its dredged approaches are included. It is 34 metres (112 ft) wide at ground level, dropping to 7 metres (23 ft) at low tide. Water depth varies from 3.9 metres (13 ft) at high tide to 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) at low tide. While the canal was once able to be used by small trading vessels, only small fishing and recreation boats can now pass through the shifting sand bars in Blackman Bay on the eastern approaches to the canal. [2]
The Tasman Peninsula, officially Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula, is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately 75 km (47 mi) by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart.
The Tasman Bridge is a prestressed concrete girder bridge connecting the Tasman Highway over the River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. When it opened on 29 March 1965, the Tasman was the longest prestressed concrete bridge in Australia, with a total length measuring 1,396 metres (4,580 ft), including approaches. The bridge provides a vital link between Hobart's city centre on the western shore and the City of Clarence on the eastern shore. Averaging 73,029 vehicle crossings per day, the bridge is the highest volume road section in Tasmania. It features five lanes of traffic including a central lane equiped for tidal flow operations and separated shared-use walkways on both sides, with ramp upgrades for improved access and cyclists completed in 2010.
Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately 315 square kilometres (122 sq mi), and has an average depth of 15 metres (49 ft), with deeper places up to 50 metres (160 ft). It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the presence of a rock wall on the outside of the channel's curve. This man-made wall prevents erosion and keeps the channel deep and narrow, rather than allowing the channel to become wide and shallow. A reported Aboriginal name for the harbour is Parralaongatek.
The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and Tasmanian Legislative Council. Since 1841, both Houses have met in Parliament House, Hobart. The Parliament of Tasmania first met in 1856.
The Forestier Peninsula is a peninsula located in south-east Tasmania, Australia, approximately 60 kilometres (37 mi) by the Arthur Highway, south-east of Hobart. The peninsula is connected to mainland Tasmania at East Bay Neck, near the town of Dunalley at its northern end. At Eaglehawk Neck, the southern end of the Forestier Peninsula is connected to the Tasman Peninsula.
The Arthur Highway (A9) is a Tasmanian highway which runs from Sorell in the near south to Port Arthur in the far south-east.
SS Lake Illawarra was a handysize bulk carrier of 7,274 tons in the service of the Australian National Line. This ship is known for causing the Tasman Bridge disaster when she collided with pylon 19 of Hobart's giant high concrete arch style Tasman Bridge on the evening of 5 January 1975 at 9.27 pm, resulting in the deaths of 12 people.
Cassandra Stanwell O'Connor is an Australian politician, who was a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2008 to 2023, representing the electorate of Division of Denison which was renamed to Clark in September 2018.
The Tasman Island Lighthouse is on Tasman Island off the coast of southeastern Tasmania, Australia. It was one of the most isolated lighthouses in Australia. It was first lit on 2 April 1906, automated in 1976 and demanned in 1977. Solar conversion occurred in 1991. Various light sources have been fitted to the lighthouse since low voltage solar was installed in 1991. The current light source is a Vega VRB25. It has a character of Flashing 7.5x - Flash 0.1s - Eclipse 7.4s and produces 63,000 candelas with a geographical range of 39 nautical miles and a nominal range of 18 nautical miles.
Smooth Island, is a privately owned island with an area of 59.31 ha lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is part of the Sloping Island Group situated in Norfolk Bay and surrounded by the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas. The towns Dunalley and Murdunna are nearby. Smooth Island differs from other Tasmanian islands as it has an unencumbered freehold title down to the high-water mark.
King George Island is an island in south-eastern Australia. It is part of the Sloping Island Group, lying close to the south-eastern coast of Tasmania around the Tasman and Forestier Peninsulas. The island was once inhabited and farmed and contains the ruins of two buildings on its eastern side. A conservation covenant is in place on this island.
Dunalley is a rural / residential locality in the local government areas (LGA) of Sorell (37%) and Tasman (63%) in the South-east LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 31 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of the town of Sorell. The 2021 census recorded a population of 304 for the state suburb of Dunalley. It is a small fishing village on the east coast of Tasmania.
The 2013 Tasmanian bushfires were a series of bushfires which occurred in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia, between November 2012 and late April 2013. The fires burnt approximately 20,000 hectares of mixed resident land and native forest.
The Sandfly Colliery Tramway was a 20 km (12 mi), 2 ft narrow gauge tramway linking the Kaoota Mine to Margate, Tasmania. Constructed in 1905–06, the Tramway climbed 457 m (1,499 ft) above sea level and crossed ten bridges. After coal mining ceased the tramway was used to transport logs, fruit and passengers. The line was lifted and abandoned in 1922 after bushfires destroyed several bridges along the line. Currently, 6 km (3.7 mi) of the old track is used as cycling/walking tracks, while the remainder of the old line is on private property.
There are few canals in Australia. Of the canals constructed, only a small number are navigable waterways. The following list provides a summary of known navigable waterways and other types of constructed or artificial waterways in Australia.
The Norfolk Bay is a body of water in the south east of Tasmania, Australia. The north west aspect of Norfolk Bay is continuous with Frederick Henry Bay. The north east aspect of Norfolk Bay is continuous with Blackman Bay via the Denison Canal.
East Bay Neck refers to an isthmus connecting the Forestier Peninsula to the mainland of Tasmania.
The Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial is a public memorial structure located at Triabunna, Tasmania which jointly commemorates all Tasmanians who died at sea, along with the lives of all seafarers of any origin who lost their lives in Tasmanian waters. The memorial comprises individual commemorative plaques for each maritime tragedy involving recreational, commercial, mercantile or naval vessels and personnel lost since 1803. As of February 2017, the memorial contained plaques for 116 events involving the loss of over 1450 lives.
The electoral division of Clark is one of the five electorates in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, it is located in Hobart on the western shore of the River Derwent and includes the suburbs below Mount Wellington. Clark is named after Andrew Inglis Clark, a Tasmanian jurist who was the principal author of the Australian Constitution. The electorate shares its name and boundaries with the federal division of Clark.
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