Derwent River (Tasman Sea)

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Derwent River
Bridgewater Bridge. Mount Wellington in the background

Bridgewater Bridge. Mount Wellington in the background

Data
location Tasmania ( Australia )
River system Derwent River
Drain over Derwent River → Tasman Sea
source Lake St. Clair
42 ° 6 ′ 43 "  S , 146 ° 11 ′ 8"  E
Source height 738  m
muzzle Storm Bay ( Tasman Sea ) at South Arm Coordinates: 42 ° 54 ′ 15 "  S , 147 ° 22 ′ 21"  E 42 ° 54 ′ 15 "  S , 147 ° 22 ′ 21"  E
Mouth height 0  m
Height difference 738 m
Bottom slope 3.6 ‰
length 203 km
Catchment area 9832 km²
Drain MQ
 90 m³ / s
Left tributaries Narcissus River , Travelers Rest River , Tarrelah Canal No. 2, Nive River , Black Bobs Rivulet, Dee River , Ouse River , Clyde River , Allenvale Rivulet, Belmont Rivulet, Back River , Jordan River
Right tributaries Cuvier River , Navarre River , Counsel River , Beech Creek, Robinson Creek, Florentine River , Jungle Creek, Repulse River , Broad River , Jones River , Long Bottom Creek, Allenvale Rivulet, Tyenna River , Styx River , Park Creek, Plenty River , Glenfern Rivulet Creek, Lachlan River , Sorell Creek, New Town
Reservoirs flowed through Lake St. Clair , St. Clair Lagoon , Lake King William , Wayatinah Lagoon , Lake Catagunya , Lake Repulse , Cluny Lagoon , Meadowbank Lake
Big cities Hobart
Medium-sized cities New Norfolk , Glenorchy
Small towns Derwent Bridge , Bridgewater , Kingston
Communities Wayatinah, Lawrenny, Plenty, Boyer, Granton, Gagebrook, Old Beach, Claremont, Possum Bay, Blackmans Bay, South Arm
Ports Hobart
Navigable to Hobart
Derwent River south of the Bridgewater Bridge

Derwent River south of the Bridgewater Bridge

Derwent River and Austins Ferry from Poimenna Reserve

Derwent River and Austins Ferry from Poimenna Reserve

The Derwent River is a river in the southeast of the Australian state of Tasmania .

geography

River course

The river arises in Lake St. Clair from the Cuvier River and the Narcissus River . From the adjoining St. Clair Lagoon it flows south, crosses under the Lyell Highway at Derwent Bridge , takes on the Travelers Rest River and enters Lake King William . The Derwent River leaves this reservoir at the southern end and continues its course to the southeast in many meanders and through several smaller reservoirs. At New Norfolk it turns east-northeast and widens to the estuary .

From there - already at sea level - it covers another 52 km into the sea. At Bridgewater , where the Midland Highway crosses the already 2 km wide river, it turns its course again southeast, flows through the Tasmanian capital Hobart and finally flows into Storm Bay , a bay of the Tasman Sea at South Arm .

The mean water flow of the Derwent River fluctuates between 50 and 140 m³ / s. The annual average is 90 m³ / s.

Tributaries with mouth heights

Lakes and reservoirs flowing through

bridges

At the first bridge of the river in Derwent Bridge , it is usually so narrow that you can jump over it. Smaller bridges also cross the Derwent River in Wayatinah , Lake Repulse , Upper Meadowbank Lake, and Bushy Park . The first longer bridge connects the two banks in New Norfolk just before the estuary begins.

The Midland Highway (A1) crosses the river between Bridgewater and Granton on the two-lane Bridgewater Bridge . In Glenorchy , just before Hobart, the four-lane Bowen Bridge spans the river. Until 1964 there was the Hobart Bridge , a concrete pontoon bridge, near downtown Hobart . It was replaced by today's five-lane Tasman Bridge , which runs directly north of the harbor basin and connects the city center of the Tasmanian metropolis with the sparsely populated, eastern districts.

port

Hobart Harbor is in the great estuary of the Derwent River. It is said to be the deepest natural harbor in the southern hemisphere. In the past some well-known ships anchored there, e.g. B. The HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board in February 1836, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and the battleship USS Missouri . The largest ship ever to go up the Derwent River was the Diamond Princess , a 61 m high cruise ship with a displacement of 113,000 GRT and calling at Hobart in January 2006. In the area of ​​the port, the Derwent River is almost 3 km wide, making it the widest river in Tasmania.

ecology

The upper reaches of the Derwent River are suffering from inundation of nutrients from agriculture and forestry. In contrast, the lower reaches have to struggle with extremely high levels of heavy metals. The Derwent Estuary Program launched by the state government shows that the proportions of mercury, lead, zinc and cadmium in particular exceed national limits. Fish caught in the river, especially shellfish, should not be eaten. Most of these heavy metals come from larger industries dumping their sewage into the river, an electrolytic tin smelter in Lutana that was established in 1917, and a paper mill in Boyer that has been in operation since 1941.

history

The valley of the Derwent River had been inhabited by the Mouheneener Aboriginal tribe for at least 8,000 years before European settlement . Many Køkkenmøddingers along the river still bear witness to this today.

It got its name in 1793 from John Hayes after one of the English rivers of the same name (see Derwent ), which means something like "valley made of oaks". When it was discovered by the Europeans, the lower course was covered with dense casuarina forests (English She-Oaks ), of which only a few remnants have survived.

There was a flourishing whaling industry until the 1840s, but the base was then deprived of its base by overfishing .

Before several dam projects were built between 1934 and 1968, the Derwent River was flooded frequently. Today Tasmania gets much of its energy from hydropower .

Web links

Commons : Derwent River (Tasman Sea)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Map of River Derwent, TAS . Bonzle.com
  2. ^ A b Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . P. 56 + 58 + 59
  3. ↑ a b c d State of the Derwent Estuary report (3.89 MB PDF) ( Memento of the original dated February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derwentestuary.org.au
  4. ^ Hobart to Tasman Bridge (1938-2000) . Parliament of Tasmania History
  5. ↑ Hayes, Sir John (1768-1831) , Australian Dictionary of Biography
  6. ^ A History of Shore-Based Whaling . Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania