ALAN CARLTON
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Constitution Dock

A marina with rock walls. A bridge is raised to allow boats to enter.
Motor pleasure boats, yachts, professional fishing boats.
Busiest after Christmas Day each year. The berthing place for many yachts from the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Not the maxis.
 
1847: Construction of the dock began. Convicts built the walls out of rocks and soil.
1850: Governor Denison named it Constitution Dock because a new constitution was mooted.  The new constitution could only come take effect with the end of transportation.
1853: The last convict ships arrived. Parliament of Van Diemens Land could now begin.
1854: Tasmanian Constitution Act was passed. The act gives Van Diemens Land responsible self -government and a bicameral parliament.
1856: Self government begins. One of the first acts passed was Van Diemens Land renaming itself Tasmania.
 
Constitution dock is named to celebrate and commemorate the constitution that made Tasmania self-governing.  Constitution dock is all about Tasmania becoming self-governing. It is not about Australia’s constitution.
 
 
1858: Local newspaper:
We some time ago pointed out to the proper authorities, the great accommodation which our Merchants, and others having business on the wharves, would receive by the construction, over the mouth of the Constitution Dock, of a slight Swing Bridge for the use, of course, of foot passengers alone.
Throughout the whole day a continual chain of communication is kept up between the Old, the Franklin, and the new wharves-the two latter of which are divided from the former by the mouth of the dock -thus necessitating a circuitous walk round the whole of the dock to enable our Merchants and others to accomplish the distance of two or three yards.
We really cannot understand why any difficulty should be raised against erecting a light swing bridge over the mouth of the dock. Those only whose business compel them to traverse the wharves from one end to the other in a broiling summer's sun, can comprehend the amazing advantage which such a bridge, thrown over the mouth of the dock, would prove. We sincerely trust that this matter will be at once taken in hand.
 
 
1858: First swing bridge at constitution dock built.
1885: Small crane near Mures commissioned in 1885. Was on Franklin wharf. Moved to constitution dock in 1890.
1899: Crane next to bascule bridge built in Leicester England. Commissioned in 1899. Operated on tracks. Long service until 1969. Remains in situ.
1921: Wooden pedestrian bridge was built to replace existing wooden bridge.
1935: Bascule bridge built at constitution dock.
1960: Present Victoria Dock swing bridge was built. Originally built as a single lane bridge, the present structure was designed by the Marine Board in 1960 and the running gear was replaced in 1976.
 
A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight. The name comes from the French term for balance scale.
 
A swing bridge is moved horizontally to let ships go through.

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  • Home
  • Photos
    • photos >
      • All Saints Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Art Mob
      • Boer War
      • Botanical Gardens
      • Brooke Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Campbell Street
      • Castray Esplanade
      • Cenotaph
      • Constitution Dock
      • St David's Cathedral
    • photos >
      • St David's Park
      • Elizabeth St Mall
      • Elizabeth St Pier
      • Franklin Square
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Congregational Church
      • Hobart Rivulet
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hutchins Old School
    • photos >
      • Kunanyi / Mt Wellington
      • MacQuarie Street Primary School
      • Maritime Museum
      • MacQuarie Wharf
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentary
      • Railway Roundabout
      • Regatta
      • RHH
      • Royal Visits 1868 1901 1920 1927 1934
      • Royal visit 1954
      • Salamanca Place
    • photos >
      • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
      • Theatre Royal
      • Victoria Dock
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • St George Anglican Church
    • Street art: photos >
      • Bidencope Lane
      • Criterion Collins Liverpool Streets
      • Elizabeth Street North Hobart​
      • Kemp Despard Streets
    • Streets: photos >
      • Argyle Street
      • Barrack Street
      • Bathurst Street
      • Brisbane Street
      • Brooker Highway
      • Campbell Street
      • Collins Street
    • Streets: photos >
      • Davey Street
      • Elizabeth Street
      • Goulburn Street
      • Harrington Street
      • Hunter Street
      • Liverpool Street
      • Macquarie Street
      • Murray Street
  • Places
    • Places >
      • All Saint's Church
      • Anglesea Barracks
      • Atheneum Club
      • Baha’i Centre
      • Boer War Memorial
      • Brook Street Pier
      • Brunswick Hotel
      • Boats in the docks
      • Constitution Dock
      • The Drunken Admiral
      • Franklin Square
      • Gas Works
    • Places >
      • Hadley's Hotel
      • Heading South Sculpture
      • Hobart GPO
      • Hobart Synagogue
      • Hobart Town Hall
      • Holy Trinity Church
      • Hunter Street
      • Ingle Hall
      • Old Wool Factory
      • Ordnance Stores
      • Parliament House
      • Penitentiary
      • Princes Park
    • Places >
      • Princes Wharf 1
      • Scots Memorial Church
      • Saint David's Cathedral
      • Saint David's Park
      • Saint George Anglican Church
      • St Michaels Collegiate School
      • Supreme Court
  • History
    • History >
      • Tasmanian Timeline
      • Early Tasmania
      • Mid Nineteenth Century
      • Late Nineteenth Century
      • 20th Century
      • Tasmania’s aborigines
      • Convicts
    • People >
      • John Lee Archer
      • William Bedford
      • Andrew Bent
      • Louis Bernacchi
      • James Blackburn
      • William Bunster
      • William Buckley
      • Thomas Bromfield
      • Luke Castray
      • William Champion
      • David Collins
    • People >
      • John Colvin
      • Charles Darwin
      • Governor Eadley
      • TT Flynn
      • John Franklin
      • Lady Jane Franklin
      • Charles Gaylor
      • Haig: Elizabeth and Andrew
      • Henry Jones
    • People >
      • James Kelly
      • Robert Knopwood
      • Lachlan Macquarie
      • Douglas Mawson
      • Charles McLachlan.
      • George Mure
      • Pearce: Henry and John
      • Robert Pitcairn
      • Poulett-Harris
      • Reid: Arthur and Alison
      • James Clark Ross
      • Ikey Solomon
      • Phillip Smith
      • Abel Tasman
      • Mark Twain
      • AJ White
      • Andrew and Elizabeth Haig
  • Community
    • Hobart Marathon Festival
    • Hadley's Hotel
    • history is not set in bronze
    • Wooden Boat Festival 2019
    • What do you think of Hobart?
    • Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
    • The Mountain
  • Walking Tours
    • Dave's Walking Tour
    • The Tench Walking Tour
    • Botanical Gardens Circuit
    • ​Alfred’s feeling religious walk
    • Battery Point Sculpture Trail
    • Lachlan gets to the point
    • Street art: Luffy paints the town
  • Blog
    • healing through living
    • This website
    • about another website
    • Acknowledgement
    • Contact
  • The Full Complement
    • Alan Carlton
    • Daniel Frank
    • Paul Barrington
    • Jodi Sutton
    • Jodi Sutton talks about mistakes
    • Jodi Sutton: The phone
    • Ann Heath
    • Maddie Atkins
    • Karen Wong
    • Jo-Anne Cherry
    • Jo-Anne Cherry: Retirement
    • Errol Kilov
    • Garry Owen
    • Katherine Janney
    • Jacques Cawood
    • John Chung
  • Songs
    • Forty Years Ago
    • Tomorrow
    • Clouds in the River
    • I Woke Up
    • Hold My Hand
    • Cornelian Bay Boathouses
    • Dance on the Deck
    • Eucalyptus Globulus