The Tasman Bridge Disaster 1975 | Plainly Difficult Documentary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Behind the Scenes at Plainly Difficult: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYa2fXV8adWgptk This Weeks outro Song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lardq2iflM2rbqs

[@KibuFox]

Tasman isn't pronounced "Taz-man" It's pronounced "Bob". (making fun of how everyone corrects your pronunciation of things.

[@IIGrayfoxII]

@@KibuFox May as well add "Lake Illawarras" pronunciation too the mix. Lake Ill-a-war-ra

[@socluded]

And Lutana. Lootahna

[@vonclaren1]

Being a local I can tell the pronunciations of our place names were plainly difficult for you, LOLS

[@vonclaren1]

@@socluded Hobart turned into "Hoebt"

[@NightfallTrueCrime]

My dad was driving on the bridge when this happened, luckily there was a car in front of him that saw what was happening and slowed down. he told me this story EVERY TIME we crossed the bridge lol.

[@grmpEqweer]

"Yes, Dad."

[@libbypeace68]

Lol ... such a dad thing to do.

[@ats-3693]

At least he didn't drop the old "Ah yes the dead center of town" everytime you drove past a cemetery 🤦

[@mbryson2899]

I think it's a brain glitch some dads are susceptible to; we don't even notice when we're doing it. A couple of years ago I was taking my eldest grandkid to a store she likes and apparently I reminisced about a location...for the hundreth time, starting the tale with "Do you remember...". She kinda yelled "Of course _I_ remember, _I'm_ not the one who had a stroke!" The look on her face when she realized she'd said it out loud was priceless. 😂

[@Argosh]

@@mbryson2899 I do stuff like that instinctively and I neither have nor will I ever have children.

[@isobeljones2005]

My Grandfather Thomas Jones was a motorist who died during the collapse. It was a tragedy and my father (11) and his two siblings were orphaned with their mother dying three weeks later. Thank you as there was information in this video I never knew.

[@kylehumbert5735]

It's tragic. I watched the Brick Immortar video on the same subject. This wouldn't happen to be the same family, would it?

[@gilbydog7350]

I'm very sorry to hear that. It must have been very tough for your father. We lived in Howrah at the time, I was only a little boy at the time of the Bridge collapse, but I remember catching my ferry with my mother as the Bridge was being rebuilt.

[@DavidThomsonVocals]

While it’s under less than positive circumstances, As a Hobart resident it’s nice to see our history being brought to a wide audience. The photo of the two cars hanging over the edge is iconic.

[@carokat1111]

It’s an incredibly iconic photo to us Tasmanians.

[@confused_stripes]

@Evan Hodge are you saying photos can't be iconic or that this one isn't because I can assure you both are true

[@seanworkman431]

I grew up in Tasmania and even as a young boy I understood how much of an impact it had on the people of Hobart. There was a model of the disaster in the local museum and when taking a girlfriend on holiday there we went to the museum and I inquired about the model. I was told that it hd been taken off display as it caused too much upset for some visitors, so I took my girlfriend to Port Aurther and we narrowly escaped death, having breakfast at 'The Broad Arrow Cafe' just 24 hrs. before the massacre, not the best holiday experience, I can assure you. Although the ship is not that deep, it is off limits to wreck divers as it is a tomb.

[@busylivingnotdying]

They couldn't recover the bodies from the ship?

[@elllieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee]

I've never even heard of this massacre you spoke of until today, that's crazy

[@TheEDFLegacy]

Yikes! I'm sorry you went through that!

[@aedvark]

aww you just mist out on being part of john howards agenda

[@LongPeter]

@@elllieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yes, it's the reason Australia has had very restrictive gun laws since 1996. Having grown up with an irresponsible gun owner or two, I see it has the greatest thing the Howard government achieved.

[@malcolmmcgrath9344]

Arrived in Hobart by plane, hired a car, drove over the bridge, checked into a hotel, looked out the window, part of the bridge was missing, said to the new wife, "the bridge has fallen down", "nonsense" she said. I was right! Possibly the first and last time that has ever happened in 47 years of marriage.

[@margueriteporte8522]

When I heard the news I thought it was an elaborate joke. Looked out the window and saw many watercraft moving around and realised it was only too true. Bob Clifford's ferry service was struggling at the time and what a blessing that he was in a position to step up to the mark.

[@nononever3592]

The funniest comment of several dozen I've read tonight, 7 months after you wrote it. Hope the Missus still keeps you in line!

[@gilbydog7350]

Staying at Wrest Point and looking up the river ?

[@culex818]

I drive across this bridge as part of my daily commute. Another change in addition to the requirement to use a Pilot - traffic on the bridge is halted while a major ship is passing underneath. This means that ship movements under the bridge have to be scheduled outside of peak hour traffic, and usually take place at night.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

That’s interesting, although it kind of defeats the point of the bridge being built

[@rosie7346]

@@PlainlyDifficult Small boats can pass without any change to traffic. We very rarely have ships passing during the day, I'm not sure if I've ever seen traffic stopped!

[@paulorocky]

I’ve seen traffic stopped on the bridge. Being an interstate visitor I had no idea at the time, but soon realised why.

[@SRWJ]

I also live in Hobart and have seen traffic stopped for boats many times 😌 It's not often, when it does happen they pass through quickly and you're on your way.

[@wilsjane]

@@SRWJ With the time it takes to clear the bridge above the shipping lanes. it is only necessary to close the bridge less than a minute before the ship passes under. I assume that in this day and age the whole thing is done by radar and computers.

[@owainw3501]

You can never go wrong with a disaster documentary. Always fascinates me how shit can hit the fan so badly. Keep up the good work.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@owainw3501]

@@PlainlyDifficult You're welcome

[@owainw3501]

Can you do a video on the Holodor? I think that's how it it spelled. It is the great Ukrainian famine when they were an old Soviet republic during the 1930s. It's not a disaster per say, but interesting nonetheless.

[@Dave_Sisson]

You talk about shit hitting the fan, but in Hobart it was the ship hitting the span.

[@SupersuMC]

@@Dave_Sisson 🤣💀

[@sarahj344]

You did a great job! As an Aussie who grew up in Tasmania, I have to say that you mangled the pronunciation of a few names of places LOL but hey - I mangle the correct pronunciation of a lot of British towns and villages all the time, so no judgement from me. I enjoyed this doco. Thank-you!

[@lucycarr6065]

Yay, I recommended this topic a few months ago. I love that you started out pronouncing every single name wrong and gradually started to get lazy and pronounce them right, which is exactly how Australian English developed it seems haha.

[@kateemma22]

Australian: It's English but pronounced like you can't be f**ked.

[@neuralmute]

@@kateemma22 Haha! That's pretty much the consensus between me (Canadian) and my Aussie cousins. We also agreed that our countries are sort of Commonwealth mirror images - both are big and full of empty space where the climate, the landscape, and most of the animals want to kill you, just in different ways. They've got the venomous everything, the sharks, and the crocs, and we've got the bears, pumas, wolverines, and f**king moose.

[@brianarbenz1329]

Is “Tas-man” correct? I’ve read about the life of Abel Tasman and figured it would be pronounced “Tas-mun.”

[@viper1431]

​@@brianarbenz1329 Yeah we don't fully pronounce the "man" part, 1 "a" is enough, who has time for a second one? So yes more like Tas-mun or Tas-mn.

[@YokRzeznic]

@@brianarbenz1329 It's more "Tas-min" But you basically do not pronounce any vowel except the a.

[@notablynova]

The green Holden hanging from the bridge actually still survived and is still owned by the couple that were in it when the bridge collapsed as of 10 years ago, there's video of them here on YT it's pretty cool as that's a world famous car lol

[@benji274]

Yes, that car is in a museum in Launceston. The owner is still alive today (aged 93), though his wife passed away a few years ago

[@timmylovell]

@@benji274 which car is in the museum?

[@benji274]

The green one (the Holden HQ Monaro), dangling over the gap in the bridge

[@davetaylor2088]

I think it went up for sale a couple of years ago. Most famous car in Australia!

[@dialupdude]

The other car is still around as well! Just much less well known and not in a museum.

[@ausnorman8050]

As a Hobart local, thank you for covering this subject that's dear to our local hearts.

[@xr6lad]

Pity you didn’t p pick up on his mispronunciation of the word Tasman. Mustnt have been in Hobart long. It’s not Tas-Man . It’s Tas-mun.

[@ausnorman8050]

@@xr6lad Yes, my partner and I had a giggle

[@nthgth]

@@xr6lad would you also say it could be spelled Tasm'n?

[@jadedejarlais2769]

An interesting note about the Holden Monaro that almost went over the edge of the bridge, I read somewhere the driver mentioned that he was saved by his Automatic transmission. Auto transmissions were larger than the manual underneath those Holden's, and when the car slid over the edge, the Bell Housing of the transmission was what caught on the bridge. If he had a manual transmission he might have gone over aswell.

[@Tiger351]

Yep, the car and the story featured in Survivor Car Australia back in may or june, now fully restored and still owned by the same family.

[@karenstirling2485]

The car is on display in Launceston at the Motor Museum

[@collegeatlas]

@@karenstirling2485 It’d be worth 100’s of 1000’s of dollars just because it’s a Monaro let alone a significant historic artefact.

[@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220]

Geez, the lengths people will go to justify why they bought an automatic… (Kidding of course, people can buy whatever car they like!)

[@JakobusVdL]

Don't worry@@mostlybrokenbritishcars3220, that was my first thought as well ;-)

[@keithweiss7899]

I watched a tug barely turn its barges on the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau. I was sure he would hit it, but he barely made it through. His engines roared so loudly it shook the city! I can’t imagine watching a collision like this! Thanks!

[@alexbetts8719]

I never thought I would see my city's bridge covered. Perfect 1am upload for us here.

[@NightfallTrueCrime]

Hello fellow Taswegian

[@crepethepancake]

Yess I was thinking the same thing!

[@maccaronich]

Fascinating Horror did a really good video on it too

[@crepethepancake]

@@maccaronich I'll have to check it out!

[@nthgth]

@@crepethepancake I think they meant Brick Immortar; I can't find a Fascinating Horror video on this one

[@meme-sw1pc]

It was amazing how quickly the people of Hobart got things up and running, the army built a Bailey Bridge, which stood for many years until a new second bridge was built, we soon became used to the ferries and the longer drive around, but we got on with it, a few years earlier we had dealt with terrible bush fires where over 70 people died so the people of Tasmania are a very resilient lot.

[@everyhandletaken]

Not to mention resilient to the cold winters- I failed the resilience test & moved to QLD 😳

[@Story-Voracious66]

Pity we weren't a little more resilient with our public transport rail system. How long have you had to wait on the Brooker hwy lately?! 🙄

[@stevenguy7363]

My father was one of the soldiers involved in transporting people across the river while the Bailey bridge was being built. We lived there for two years

[@sjholmesbrown]

Another great video, John. If you're interested in more Australian stories, I would recommend the Granville rail crash of 18 January 1977, to this day our worst rail accident.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

Id watch more Australia stuff for sure.

[@swade2830]

Agreed, I second this! A documentary on the Granville train disaster would certainly be worth looking into. A horrific crash. Also, the Clybucca bus crash.

[@patrickmitchell9068]

Man, I still think about that accident when ever I catch train pass Granville. My Grandfather was near by and as a doctor, was able too help out

[@trishmcmahon1617]

And also the Westgate bridge collapse in Melbourne Victoria in 1970.

[@davetaylor2088]

I'm a Tassie boy myself and remember the bridge going down. Years later I worked for the water authority and some of the fellas there had some interesting stories too - the bridge was the main route for water supply to that part of the Eastern Shore. I was on the bridge when we did some maintenance and looked down through the open access plate to the water below. I second the "Balls" comment. How about Tropical Cyclone Tracy next (if you haven't already covered that one).

[@oldcynic6964]

Hmmm Cyclone Tracy was a natural disaster rather than a man-made stuff-up. I don't think that fits within John's remit.

[@TassieExplorer]

They also now stop all traffic when a large ship is going under the bridge

[@Em_101]

I remember hearing from people who lived near the bridge at the time of this happening said when the boat crashed, said their windows shaked so much it was like an earthquake. Thank you for covering this story.

[@mrewan6221]

My father in Montagu Bay said exactly this. He was concerned about the foundations of the whole bridge, but still drove over it.

[@tiberiusgracchus4222]

I cannot imagine the terror of being in one of those cars that ended up hanging halfway off the missing span of the bridge. Then comes the fear of being rear ended and pushed off.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Really terrifying

[@YokRzeznic]

@@PlainlyDifficult kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmfVaqZ4gquDhtk he still has the Monaro btw

[@MrLaz0rz]

I've seen that happen in my dream, wasn't me thankfully

[@JakobusVdL]

or the terror of the poor drivers who actually drove over the edge - what an awful way to be killed.

[@johngy6296]

A friend’s father was lucky enough to pull-up before rear-ending the stopped cars on the bridge. His experience caused him a significant phobia and he never travelled over it again. Instead he’d drive the extra hour+ each way to avoid the Tasman bridge, dropping off and picking up the kids from school on his way too and from work daily. It was odd to see such a tough old fella so consumed with fear, about something as seemingly mundane as driving over a bridge.

[@RennieAsh]

You understand a bit more when you start looking over the edge

[@sixstringedthing]

Nice one Johnno, a tragic story well told, with respect to those who lost their lives. In return, a handy pronunciation guide for non-Aussie blokes/chicks: - Tasmania was pronounced correctly. - TAZ-m'n not Taz-MAN, even though it's actually named after a man (Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, the first European to discover the island). We swallow the final syllable all the time in our lingo, see also MEL-b'n / BRIS-b'n / CAN-b'ra. - Contrary to the above, Hobart is pronounced Hoe-baht not Hoe-b't. The conventional pronunciation for Queensland is as it appears, but you will sometimes hear people shorten it to Queensl'nd. - Not a bad attempt at "Lake Illawarra", indigenous place names are often challenging. The correct pronunciation is "Illa-WORRAH". At the start of 2022 our national scientific research org (CSIRO) in completed a detailed underwater mapping project of the wreck, the old and new bridge pylons and the surrounding marine environment in partnership with a private firm. I believe the purpose is to devise a proper management strategy to ensure the SS Lake Illawarra presents no hazard to marine life etc. Cool project.

[@chrisp2153]

To be fair, John probably would have gotten Illawarra better if he hadn't been working from a typo

[@randomdude4669]

The pronunciation of tasman as tasmin is from the English ie Englishmin

[@godfreypigott]

Funnily, he managed to get Tasman right at the end of the video.

[@nthgth]

Funny - US English (northeastern anyway) "swallows" the a in "___man" words about half the time, like policeman, statesman, spokesman. Defensive lineman. (these days, "defensive lineperson") Repairman is mixed. But names ending in "man" (like Tasman) always get their A's swallowed. If there are exceptions, I can't think of any. Edit: superhero names are the exceptions. No one here says Batm'n or Spider-m'n. I'm sure it's the same down under lol

[@godfreypigott]

@@nthgth What about Oman?

[@WolfGirlSpells]

I’d love to see more Australian stories. Could you cover the one about the west gate bridge collapse in Melbourne Australia? I happen to live in Melbourne and survivors from the disaster are still alive to this day

[@Musikur]

Yes please, this is something which doesn't get nearly enough attention

[@VitZ9]

It wasn't really a disaster though, not like this. Nobody was on the Westgate except workmen, and only like 2 people died.

[@Kevin-go2dw]

@@VitZ9 35 died in the collapse. Students from the primary school (grade 6) I attended were on an excursion and watched it fall.

[@surfrescue3232]

lol wow ! Stupidest comment on KZbin…not to mention disrespectful to the 35 families who lost loved ones.

[@socluded]

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.

[@carokat1111]

wow

[@homeblankingK]

you channel has given me faith in railroads and crippling bridge anxiety 🙃

[@PlainlyDifficult]

🌝🌞

[@battleblaster4203]

Dont be too sure of railroads they can be even more dangerous

[@111jacare]

@@PlainlyDifficult: Suggest you have a look at the Granville Train crash disaster, c1977. Granville, New South Wales, Australia. There are stories that this was covered up at the highest levels, something to do with the wheels on the rolling stock.

[@smitajky]

You might want to read about the first Tay bridge. It might alter your faith somewhat.

[@clubsportr08]

Nice Video FYI they also now "Stop" traffic on both sides of the Bridge whenever a large ship passes under the Bridge and won't allow it to open until it has cleared the span.

[@paddyvlogz6138]

Loving the content. Being Hobart born and raised, it's great seeing your documentary on our bridge. Using the bridge as much as we do, it's a weird feeling to know what had happened to it and the people evolved.

[@thetassieboys]

Well... I can say this was the first time I've ever watched a PD video whilst waiting to cross the bridge in the video... The fog horns were going off and flashing lights due to a cargo ship passing underneath. They have learned their lesson about safety haha A bit surreal! Thank you for doing this video

[@DinsdalepiranHa3]

The Dinosaur bridge! Cheers, John, for covering this! Hobart has copped it a bit (fires, bridge collapse, among other events), it's cool to see your eye on this little state 😀

[@TimPerfetto]

Why are you ruining his life? Eating hair wont help you

[@leobenjamin7950]

@@TimPerfetto what

[@reeee88]

i was born in this city, i swear everyone has a story with this disaster. Teachers would tell me they were on the bridge or friends and family would say they heard it or saw it. Tasmania is a pretty small place roughly the same size as Ireland only the majority or Tasmanians live in the capital Hobart, so it would make sense so many people remember personally. I'm so glad you made a video on little Tasmania, I wish more youtubers would give us some more attention.

[@ED-es2qv]

I think there’s a collective memory thing going on, because there couldn’t have been that many people on the bridge. I’ve already heard about an impossible number of witnesses within a day of this video.

[@headwerkn]

The number of close calls from Hobartians are legendary. My grandparents crossed the bridge all of an hour before the collapse. Man kept several photos in one of her albums and I was always fascinated by it as a kid. Probably worth mentioning that they now temporarily stop traffic over the bridge when ships of a certain size pass underneath - negating the original design concept.

[@definiti0n58]

@plainly difficult A couple of fun facts: - They added an extra lane to the bridge as you noted, but the deck was never made bigger to accomodate it. Lanes are tight so there is a speed limit of 70km/hr that is policed via fixed speed cameras. Riding a push bike on the pedestrian footways is bloody scary, though they are talking about upgrading this. - The centre lane of the 5 lanes changes direction twice a day to accomodate peak hour traffic coming and going from Hobart. - I laughed when you mentioned that one of the reasons they replaced the floating bridge was so that traffic wouldn’t need to stop when a ship went through. The irony here is: ever since the collapse and rebuild, traffic has to stop either side of the bridge when a ship comes through due to safety concerns! Great video mate, cheers

[@jacquesc0usteau]

My grandparents live in Lindisfarne, just across the bridge from the city, on the main road. I always grew up with my mum and dad telling me stories about this night. My dad remembers hearing the collision and subsequent collapse. Because of how small Hobart is, it just feels totally surreal that you’re covering something that my family has ALWAYS talked about. I was in Hobart in September and the way the bridge is now is very nicely done (IMO). Thanks for covering this one John, another video I can send to my dad so that he can tell me about that night again. 😅

[@MisterTipp]

There was something like this that happened in Sweden, in the 80s I believe, and it was pretty terrifying! You should do a video in it

[@michaeltempsch5282]

18 January 1980 01:30 at night, Tjörnbron (aka Almöbron) was hit by a ship and collapsed in the dark and fog. 7 cars went over the edge with 8 people killed

[@MisterTipp]

@@michaeltempsch5282 my dad would always point that out when we drove over the bridge and it would freak me out, because that bridge is really tall

[@ThePapaja1996]

Tjörnbron 9 january 1980 01:30.

[@michaeltempsch5282]

@Sanctus Paulus 1962 1½ hours past midnight, aka 01:30 in the 24 hour system, which I'd call night... Some may call it morning, but I personally draw that distinction about 04:00...

[@ben.alldridge]

Seeing all of these old photos of an area you drive through every day is such a weird feeling…

[@ZoeAlleyne]

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Also the way you pronounce Tasman as Taz Man is very amusing, I like it.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I’m glad you enjoyed!

[@ZoeAlleyne]

@@PlainlyDifficult I went over this bridge recently and I had no idea. So you really dig deep to find some of these stories. Love your work, been suggesting it to my people who also like the dark/tragic event history mini docco formats.

[@marvindebot3264]

Ahh, I was wondering how long it would take to cover this one. it was a huge disaster not just in deaths but the fact that 1000s of people could not get to work without a three-hour round trip each way for weeks until ferries sufficient for the computers as well as new bus routes to and from them were provided. The ship is indeed still there, a very detailed (and quite interesting) sonar survey of her was done a couple of years ago. On the odd occasion I'm in Hobart I still don't like that bridge.

[@skystryker2300]

Lots of people mentioned this incident in wake of the recent bridge collapse in Baltimore.

[@nickv4073]

Thats the least of Baltimore's problems. Its more dangerous walking down any street in Baltimore.

[@johnladuke6475]

It's like there's some kind of course in ship captain school where someone stands at the front and says "if you aren't lined up quite properly with a bridge, you _must not ever_ slow down or stop to straighten out, just go full speed ahead while turning wildly from side to side."

[@peanuthurricane]

I’m so happy you popped up in my recommended. I’m autistic, and have always been fascinated with the failure of humans, and the catastrophes that follow. If you’re interested in disasters in Australia, might I recommend the West Gate Bridge disaster? I know it’s another bridge collapse, but I still highly recommend looking into it. Again, love your videos, and can’t wait to see what you cover next! :D

[@DrJatzCrackers]

The way the Westgate collapsed is equally as interesting though. Good topic!

[@bagelbagelwah5047]

Autistic here too, and for some reason, engineering disasters have always been a special interest since I was young.

[@bagelbagelwah5047]

Autistic here too, and for some reason, engineering disasters have always been a special interest since I was young.

[@GranRey-0]

"Slow this ship yea!" I definitely read this with an Aussie accent...lol Thanks John, great video!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@kateemma22]

Short for 'slow this ship yea f**kin c*nts'.

[@christophermarshall5765]

The Tasman bridge was not the only thing this vessel collided with!! Several years earlier, it collided with the jetty at Rapid Bay, South Australia.

[@whiterex66]

As someone who has grown up in Hobart this video is fascinating. I've always known the basic history of it but not quite in this much detail and with this much story telling. Well done.

[@Teukka72]

If you need another round of cargo vessel vs. bridge altercations, you could do one on the Almö Bridge in western Sweden.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you for the suggestion I’ll have to have a look into it

[@ThePapaja1996]

almö/tjörnbron

[@jadefalcon001]

Heh. “Altercations” is an amusing word choice.

[@Teukka72]

@@jadefalcon001 Comic relief due to the subject matter 😀

[@mcrazza]

A lot of Hobartians of a certain age could tell you plenty of stories about "that night" and how it affected the city in the days, weeks, months and years after. My dad, who at the time was living in Sandy Bay, said he heard the ship slam into the bridge. It was so loud people up and down the river heard it. The disaster affected many people in different ways. One major impact was commute times. For example, what would have been a short drive across the bridge from Hobart became more than an hour's drive or a 50km trip as commuters travelled north to Bridgewater just to cross the Bridgewater Bridge and then back down the eastern shore to Rosny. One positive thing borne out of the bridge disaster was local ferry operator Bob Clifford and his innovative ferry catamarans, which at the time provided a crucial lifeline for people. He later established Incat Tasmania, a major shipbuilding company which build radically designed catamarans, are sold all around the globe and are the biggest "cats" in the world. Brits who have crossed the English Channel will recognise the distinctive catamaran ferries.

[@the_real_fiz2zy]

Its always nice to see Tasmania being talked about by popular KZbin channels, even if it is about some of our more morbid pieces of history. We do feel a bit forgotten about sometimes

[@kylei4153]

Lived in Tasmania my whole life, specifically Eastern Shore areas. Its cool seeing people in other countries talk about this disaster. Every kid in Tasmania is taught pretty early what happened to the bridge. My Nanna even had photos of cars hanging off the bridge. I always hear the same thing from people who were old enough to remember it though, and thats that it could of been 10 times worse if it had happened a day before or after. Saturday & Monday being some of the busiest days in Hobart. Because it was a Sunday, that's always been a "stay home" kind of day. And thank god for that.

[@bobcloset7963]

When John uploads, it is a good day.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@random-protogen]

no way! it cool to see a larger youtuber talk about somewhat remote places like my beloved tassie iv loved your vids for years and to bring it local is super cool

[@adrianapeace3601]

Hey , im a hobartian and i loved the video ! One small mistake , you said after the accident people had to drive for hours upstream to cross the derwent. Its actually only 20 or 30 minutes to the bridgewater bridge, about 19 k on the hobart side, and 24 k on the clarence side. The first bridge there opened in 1845! And the bridge thats there now openeded in 1946 :)

[@OptimalToast]

Aside from it happening, I knew very little of the disaster, thank you for covering it. 🙂

[@EddieMagpie]

Always a good watch. Well presented and informative as always. Good because you don't overdramatise the event. Just good clear information. Now I am looking forward to the next video.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for watching

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

John, your production quality and and content are *top notch*. Bravo, sir!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@blue-pi2kt]

Love the content and will forgive the pronunciation but it's a jarring experience.

[@godfreypigott]

@@PlainlyDifficult Except for your pronunciation of Australian place names.

[@ScrumBeeble]

You'd think after like 10,000 years of building bridges and having them fall down, we would've figured this shit out by now.

[@grmpEqweer]

Well, we have bigger ships and different concrete than the Romans.

[@chileo1]

They could have built that bridge or any bridge to withstand a ship like that hitting it. The problem isnt we dont know how, just that it makes the cost too high. Its actually even brought up in the video. This applies to pretty much all aspects of civil and mechanical engineering. You build to a certain spec and not beyond that.

[@joewalker2152]

@@chileo1 You're right, I was told by an old engineer once "Engineering is not how strong you can make something, but how weak you can make it, and it still works" A sobering thought really.....

[@Sem5626]

@@joewalker2152 as an engineer, yes this is very true its almost more... you're trying to make it as strong as possible with as much money as you are allowed to spend

[@virginiascurti5036]

I guess you will have to add the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge in a year when the Coat Guard and NTSB get finished with their investigations.

[@joibus2977]

I’m a Tasmanian local. The bridge collapse was long before my time, but Its still fresh in the minds of my parents and their friends. I get an uneasy feeling whenever I drive over it

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Had no idea that triple full astern even existed. Every day is a school day.

[@ykhluvr6187]

as a hobart citizen i love that tassie stories are being spoken about a but recently

[@brettsalter3300]

In Australia, it is pronounced Tasm'n, not Tas Man, but a well researched and interesting documentary for someone who caught ferries back and forth to Lindisfarne during this period.

[@vonclaren1]

He clearly found pronunciation plainly difficult

[@randomdude4669]

You would think he'd know how to pronounce it being english unless he says things like englishmAn and craftsmAn

[@KM-qd4kf]

I remember family members of crew coming to our office to try and find out if their relatives on the ship had survived. It was a eerie day & I was just a junior at work but it has stayed with me over the years. Around that time the Straitsman sank in the Yarra River, Melbourne, the tug ‘Melbourne’ tipped over in the bay near Williams town, the ‘Joseph Banks’ ran over a fishing trawler in Bass Strait, the ‘Melbourne Trader’ ran over the Port Gellibrand pile light.

[@xzytqweo3538]

Great job, John! Bravo! Bravo! Thanks for your detail videos of quirky and disastrous situations that have occurred in the world today. I currently watched this video in a rainy dreary day in the mountains of western NC, USA. Take care.

[@Story-Voracious66]

Thanks for all your research on this Tasmanian disaster, many of us here were kid when it happened; my Stepdad was a police officer on duty at the time. One day it will be forgotten; the Tasman only has 40 years left before it will reach the end of it's recommended life span. We joke here that this is the only river with a Lake at the bottom of it. I've seen several dive clips on the wreck, but it's really dark and murky.

[@spinalobifida]

They should have put dolphins around 4 posts, two on either side of the shipping lane. Yeah it'll cost more in the short term, but rebuilding it after a collapse would cost more.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Very true

[@gardnep]

Thank you for this production, we in the antipodes frequently feel left out. It has been nearly 50 years and This year I have finally navigated the bridge as do most airline passengers these days. Westgate bridge in Melbourne is another disaster worth looking at.

[@PaulAJohnston1963]

Having been in the Merchant Navy myself I find the decision to go full speed ahead when you would normally be running "under command" (a term we used for when we may need to react especially rapidly) rather dodgy. I know at slow speed manoeuvring can be difficult but if you are going to hit something do it slowly. Simple laws of physics show energy is proportional to the velocity squared. Still that's the deck department for you. Eminence over evidence. See why the company got rid of the captain.

[@SlyracoonFTM]

As someone how lives in Hobart it's awesome that you covered this. Legend.

[@Drabbi4her]

holy shit never thought this story would be told by anyone other than a fellow Tasmanian. i guess i was wrong.

[@twigthewonderk1d]

i love your channel so much. i have spent the last few days binging your videos because of how interesting they are, coupled with how respectfully you cover each topic. thank you for putting so much effort into your content, it's very educational and interesting!

[@sirjarko8762]

I went to the HIgh school overlooking this bridge (Rose Bay High) a few years back and I remember when I was in grade 7 in the library I found an old picture of the bridge just after it collapsed with parts still sticking out of the water in perfect view from the school. Its still kinda crazy to think about. Also now days when you cross it on windy days it can get pretty crazy especially in a bus or a small car. There is also a Museum in Hobart across the bridge with a sculpture of of the bridge and surrounding debree going to down to the ocean floor. Not sure if its still there today as it has been quite a few years since I was at the Museum.

[@Teddysaw1988]

Great vid mate.. they shut the bridge now every time a sizable ship has to go under it 👍

[@thegamingteen44mc5]

Speaking of aussie bridges and structural failure, you should do the westgate bridge disaster

[@DrJatzCrackers]

The local knock on effects of the collapse are interesting. As mentioned in the video, the Eastern shore had to become more self sufficient. It resulted in the creation of the Bowen bridge up river (it has better protection on its piers). Number 1 songs were created about the collapse and it put Bob Clifford in the spotlight when he started a ferry service for commuters across the Derwent. He went on to create "Incat" who made (make?) Large Catamarans

[@whiterex66]

Make. Bob is still doing his thing.

[@rickybugg2385]

Maybe do a video about where one of Bobs ferries ended up!!!

[@xinfires4649]

My my if it isn’t another Plainly Difficult Video to watch while I procrastinate my Uni work

[@SupersuMC]

Stop procrastinating! XD

[@elliestubbings9360]

So good to see tassie history being recognised more on YT!

[@marklambert3428]

Have you though of doing one on the 1970 west gate bridge disaster? It’s a 10 lane bridge over the Yarra river in Melbourne Australia. During construction one span fell off the end, killing about 40 workers. Australia’s worst industrial accident.

[@dertriejeej4840]

I live up in Mt Stuart, it was like a big thunderstorm we heard. We went out the front to see if we could see anything, no but my husband turned his radio on later, and it had just started telling people about it. There wasn't a lot to learn except for the cars going over, there was much more new in the morning. A tragedy that shouldn't have happened.

[@NBvagabond]

my stepmum still isn't comfortable driving across the tasman bridge. whenever we cross to the eastern shore and she's driving, we always have to take a detour. that's how much the disaster affected her, and she wasn't even on the bridge at the time

[@andoletube]

Really - a detour? As in, all the way up to the Bowen Bridge?

[@margueriteporte8522]

The Bowen Bridge did not exist at the time of the disaster

[@andoletube]

@@margueriteporte8522 I know, but it sounds like the detour continues to this day so the Bowen bridge would be the likely route unless they really like a long drive to Bridgewater.

[@linmonash1244]

I came over the Tasman bridge that night, 40 minutes before it fell. Didn't know anything about it until the next morning when my mother told me the news. I was shocked as; 1. I hadn't been over the bridge for almost a year, and 2. I and a bunch of teenage friends had been at a Surf Competition over at Carlton Beach that afternoon, and if we'd stayed at the BBQ and beach party later - we may well have been crossing at the very time it came down. It wasn't as close a call as for many others, but close enough for me! My mother was shocked - as she'd had no idea I'd been to the surf carnival... As for the extra travel time to get to the Eastern shore suburbs; it wasn't adding 'extra hours'. At least, not initially. It was around 20-25 minutes from Hobart to then drive the Brooker Highway along the Western side of the River Derwent - up to the more Northerly crossing at Bridgewater Bridge, and then the same, back along the East Derwent Highway to get back to the Clarence region, opposite Hobart CBD again. You missed out on covering the building of the temporary and notorious Bailey Bridge later that same year. This was to take the pressure off the Bridgewater crossing and cut travel time, however, the time lost waiting in lines to cross there meant that many found it faster to drive the longer route. Existing Ferry services, by owner Bob Clifford, operated between Hobart CBD and the Eastern Shore and were expanded to 5 boats, which ran continuously, for the 2 years before the bridge was repaired. An estimated 9 million people / individual ferry crossings were made largely by commuting 'Hobartians', during that period. Many Ferry commuters became enamoured of this form of crossing - even in the rough and windy winter months - well lubricated' by each ferry having a liquor licence, and complained bitterly when the Ferry services wound back.

[@Redboots]

speaking of 'it was lucky that more vehicles weren't involved', I'll always remember the story that my family (grandparents, mother and aunt) were staying with my great-grandmother who lived on the eastern shore like they usually did every so often, and were going to go have sunday tea with another relative who lived somewhere in hobart itself. but my grandmother didn't want to arrive back in the dark, so for once, her wanting everyone to stay home and not travel at night was a good thing, because they'd have been on the bridge heading home when the accident happened. will forever have the photograph my mother took the next morning in my brain, along with the song written about the kerfuffle that was crossing the derwent afterwards (thanks dad!)

[@xr6lad]

Amazing. Every time I see this story it seems the entire population of the city was ‘just about to cross it’. Must have been bad traffic that day as 100,000 people all were ‘about’ to cross that bridge.

[@Redboots]

@@xr6lad lmao that's one of the jokes that's come about in the past half century! if it's worth anything the story my family has is true though

[@einfelder8262]

This disaster brough about the expansion of a Hobart ferry builder Sullivans Cove Ferry Company, which became part of the Incat group. Incat group has built many Catamaran ferries used the world over. They are the fastest ferries on earth (or more correctly on the sea).

[@benrussell-gough1201]

"It would make the cost of the bridge prohibitive". My hackles always rise when I hear things like that.

[@andrewstevenson118]

Very good, John. Never even heard of it before. Thanks.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@knarf802]

As an aside, i completely relate the jingle and the incoming text at the beginning with "the plainly difficult bloke", and appreciate the consistency in this area.

[@LenoraTheYinglet]

Love this. A disaster I know of because I live here.

[@NightfallTrueCrime]

Me too!

[@coombesy4015]

Me three!

[@Darryl_Frost]

Excellent vid sir, I remember this one when I was a kid.

[@elizabethscott7660]

My father was to join the Illawarra the next day. Instead we woke to the news that the men he worked with had died. I had known five of those men since I could walk and talk as my father was a Marine Engineer with ANL. There is more to the story than was allowed to be made public and the Old Man didn't deserve the treatment he got from the ANL. He was an excellent mariner whose life was also destroyed by what was, ultimately, an event forced on him by others mistakes.

[@robertharding4166]

G'day Elizabeth. My grandfather Goldie was a chief engineer. And was also meant to be on that ship but was rushed to hospital with kidney stones before he was due to embark. I'm pretty sure from memory that was the problem. Although the crew I heard wished he was there. He did retire in mid late 80s with full distinctions as also serving in "merchant navy" during ww2. And he was a golden. 👍

[@morningsideable]

A few years back I met the owner of the Holden Monaro hanging over the edge. He was at Baskerville race track Hobart. He,s in his eighties now and says he would never sell the car. Interesting guy.

[@nolesy34]

You met brock?

[@spinalobifida]

Wow. Those cars dangling off the edge got real lucky

[@grmpEqweer]

Code brown moment.💩

[@marvindebot3264]

The Monaro is still in the same family!

[@angriella]

@@marvindebot3264 If that was me I'd never part with the thing either!

[@rebeccamurray9196]

Born and bred Tassie girl here. Thankyou for covering this

[@group4x121]

I live in Hobart and have seen the Tasman my whole life. So weird seeing you do a vid on this but really very cool. Big fan! (ps Tasman is pronounced with a short sound on the second a, so it sounds like Tasmin)

[@Comm0ut]

Impact absorbing fendering was added later, but all bridges should be protected such that any misaligned vessels ground before they can impact structure. It's only money so spend the necessary. If cost is "prohibitive" do it anyway and issue bonds or use appropriate funding measures. If doing it right is expensive, doing it wrong is unaffordable. Cost cutting either causes or aggravates far too many incidents.

[@nolesy34]

All in favour?

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

If we're doing Aussie stuff you MUST do the Granville train disaster

[@superomegaprimemk2]

I think with this disaster, if the captain hadn't ordered full speed ahead, the ship might of been easier to control and give them a chance to get back on course, so much of the blame can be laid at the captain's feet, he should of ordered a abandoned ship alert to all crew members and that might of meant those down in the engine room could of had a chance to escape

[@piwex69]

Captain Pelc is obviously of Polish origin, so his name is pronounced rather with "c" like "sea", not like "k" in "key".

[@blindedbliss]

If this had been a car accidentally running over 5 pedestrians, killing all one of the four people in the car-he'd be convicted for accidental manslaughter. How didn't the captain get such a conviction? How was he not charged with gross negligence? How did he only get 6 months suspension (and forced, likely paid, early retirement)?! Legal Eagles 🦅 out there. Let me know.

[@Wraithstrike]

Love the Italian Job reference there.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@NHGMitchell]

Yeah, it had me laughing out loud

[@Votrae]

Did a great job setting up the town and critical function provided, then lost, by the bridge. Truly a 'double balls' disaster. Loving the music channel and Spotify station btw! Cheers

[@matthewraymond2200]

While I have seen some photos I know nothing about the Westgate Bridge collapse in Victoria Australia. I hope you could do a short documentary on it. I have just discovered your channel and will be spending a while today watching as many of your videos as I can.

[@mementomori3613]

And now all that bridge does is give you speeding ticket and a ticket for breaking down on it but you get a free tow off the bridge and the guy is a legend