New film: Ferry crossing following the Tasman Bridge collapse
It is almost 50 years to the day that Joyce Purtscher pressed record on her super 8 camera and captured a snapshot of daily life on the Derwent River following the Tasman Bridge disaster. The reel of film has been carefully stored since 1975 and now, thanks to the work of the Libraries Tasmania digitisation team, it is once again able to be viewed.
The catalogue listing for this film can be viewed at NS7849-1-1
Joyce Purtscher (agency: NG4075) recorded this silent, colour film following the Tasman Bridge disaster when bulk carrier vessel, The Lake Illawarra, ran into a section of the Tasman Bridge on the evening of 5 January 1975, collapsing two piers and three spans of the bridge. This footage captures Joyce’s elderly father, Thomas ‘Tom’ Stapleton, lining up at the Hobart Wharf (Stapleton is wearing a hat and holding a walking stick). The footage features the James McCabe, Cartela and Lady Wakehurst ferries. The Lady Wakehurst is shown docked at the Bellerive Wharf which dates this footage to 4 February 1975 or later.1 The footage also shows the gap in the Tasman Bridge, as well as queues of people waiting at the Hobart and Bellerive ferry terminals.
The evening of the disaster
On the evening of the bridge collapse, Joyce and her husband, Josef (known as Joe), were visiting friends in Lindisfarne, sharing films recorded on their new Super 8 camera from a recent European holiday visiting family in Austria and Switzerland. Joyce was feeling tired and was keen to head home, however Joe’s enthusiasm to share just a few more clips prevailed. This delayed departure proved fortunate.
Joyce recalls:
We were driving towards the bridge on the Lindisfarne Road, which joined up to the bridge, and we were stopped just short of the bridge. We were stopped by a man who was waving his arms about. He said, “You can’t go over there now, you will have to turn around because the bridge has broken down.” We were quite shocked and looked out the windscreen, and of course, there was the bridge, broken, and with water pouring out and we had to turn around and go on the Old Beach Road to Bridgewater and it was a narrow road and very windy. Coming the other way from Hobart and Bridgewater were ambulances and police cars. So, it was a long trip. We got home to Mt Stuart at 1:30am in the morning.2
Joyce’s description of water gushing out of the broken edge of the Tasman Bridge is intriguing. Looking at other footage held in the collections of the Tasmanian Archives, water can indeed be seen gushing out of the broken edge of the bridge. The film AF741-1-14 was recorded by the State Emergency Service on the evening and morning following the disaster and can be viewed in person by request at the State Library and Archives in either Hobart or Launceston (the gushing water can be seen in the night footage at 2:42 of the 20-minute film clip).
Thank you, Joyce, for donating the ferry crossing footage to the Tasmanian Archives and ensuring that this film is preserved and available to all.
Can you add to this story?
Is there anyone you recognise in this footage? Let the Tasmanian Archives know in the user comments tab in the catalogue listing for NS7849-1-1
The Tasmanian Archives welcomes offers of additional documents and records of the Tasman Bridge disaster to add to the collection. If you believe you have material of interest then please get in touch.
References
- Ferries of the Derwent: a history of the ferry services on the Derwent River’ by D.G. O’May (1988) pp 105-114 – SD_ILS-269439 ↩︎
- Joyce Purtscher, personal communication, 9 May 2025 ↩︎