Gordon River Road

Gordon River Road
Basic data
Operator:	THIS
Start of the street:	Lyell Highway Rosegarland ( 42 ° 42 '  S , 146 ° 56'  O )
End of street:	End of road Gordon Dam ( 42 ° 44 ′  S , 145 ° 59 ′  E )
Overall length:	119 km (since 1964)
States :	Tasmania

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

The Gordon River Road - also called Strathgordon Road - is a street in the southwest of the Australian state of Tasmania . It was created as part of the construction of the dams on the Gordon River and the Serpentine River , which led to the damming of Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder .

In 1963 the Tasmanian Government successfully approached the Commonwealth for a $ 5 million grant to finance road construction from Maydena to the Middle Gordon River. In a submission never released to the public, the HEC described the provision of road access as a matter of urgency. (German: In 1963, the Tasmanian government successfully applied for a grant of AU $ 5.0 million from the Commonwealth of Australia for the construction of a road from Maydena to the middle reaches of the Gordon River. In a closed tender, the HEC described the need for a road access as very urgent.)

Construction of the road began in January 1964.

course

The road began in Maydena , where Junee Road branches north to Ninoe Cave , a cave on the southern edge of Mount Field National Park. 2 km further south Styx Road branches off , a dirt road to the Styx River and the Big Tree Reserve there. Then the Gordon River Road passes the sources of the Florentine River and the Weld River north and the place Tim Shea south. Tim Shea is located on the southwest corner of Mount Field National Park at an altitude of 952 m.

There the road turns south and leads over Frodsham Pass , where it turns west again and Scotts Peak Dam Road (C607) south to the east bank of enlarged Lake Pedder, Edgar Dam and finally Scotts Peak - The dam continues. At the same point, an unpaved road leads north to the Adamsfield settlement on the east bank of Lake Gordon, which can only be used with special permission.

Gordon River Road continues west, past Mount Wedge and the Sentinel Range in the south to McPartian Pass . From there it runs in a north-westerly direction to the former settlement for the construction workers of the dams, Strathgordon and on to the Gordon Dam. Shortly before reaching the destination, a short spur road turns south to the serpentine dam.

The road represents the largest human intervention in the two southwestern national parks of Tasmania, the Franklin Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and the Southwest National Park , both of which are world heritage sites. Together with Scotts Peak Road , it is the only one Vehicular road in the southwest of the island. It is the only route for buses and other tourist vehicles to view the dams at Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder. In addition, there is only the possibility to fly over the area.

The road that begins today north of the settlement of Rosegarland on the Lyell Highway also offers the only access to Mount Fields National Park with its famous ski areas.

source

Steve Parish: Australian Touring Atlas . Steve Parish Publishing, Archerfield QLD 2007. ISBN 978-1-74193-232-4 . Pp. 60 + 61

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter Thompson: Power in Tasmania . ACF (1981). ISBN 0-85802-064-5 . P. 19
2. ^ Gordon and Catchment . Hydro Tasmania ( Memento from September 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )