Here is Hobart, nestling under Mount Wellington as the VS ascends the Derwent River in early January at the end of Julie & Ian’s brief visit:

 

And here is the impressive Tasman Bridge just after we’ve gone under it:

And this view shows the aftermath of the disaster:

You can just see that the gap between the third and fourth piers on the right is larger than the others. On 5 January 1975, almost exactly forty years earlier, a bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra carrying 10 000 tonnes of zinc ore concentrate was heading up river. The ship’s captain was not paying sufficient attention to conditions and lost control of the ship which struck the bridge collapsing two piers and bringing down three sections of roadway. The ship sank within minutes drowning seven of the crew (but not the captain). Four cars drove into the gap, killing all occupants and two other cars stopped with their front wheels over the gap, swinging up and down and attaining worldwide publicity. Twelve people died in total. The bridge was rebuilt but the Illawarra was too costly to remove so it was left in situ and new piers built either side of it – hence the irregular gap.