Tasmania's Engineering Timeline
From Engineering Heritage Australia
| Year | Event | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| -42,000 | Aboriginal people had been living on the banks of the Jordan River, and had crossed the bridge between Wilson's Promontory in Victoria and Northeast Tasmania. | Water, Transport |
| -22,000 | Aboriginal people established an ochre mine in the southwest coast of Tasmania and began creating art in caves. | Mining, Environment |
| -8,000 | Camp sites and controlled burning of vegetation were established. | Buildings, Food |
| -6,000 | Sea levels stabilised and the island assumed its present state, nearly 68,500 square km. | Transport |
| -3,000 | Bark canoes/catamarans were being built and reached off-shore islands. Entire island was occupied and regular vegetation firing occurred over the entire island. | Transport, Environment |
| 1642 | Abel Tasman was the first European known to have sighted Tasmania which he named Van Diemans Land. Tasman noticed fires on the south east coast. | Transport, Engineering Practice |
| 1772-1802 | French and British sailors made land fall on the Tasmanian coast on at least eight separate occasions. | Transport, Engineering Practice |
| 1803 | Lieutenant John Bowen arrived with two ships, Lady Nelson and Albion, at Risdon Cove on the eastern shore of the River Derwent. | Transport, Engineering Practice |
| 1804 | Lt Colonel David Collins landed at Sullivans Cove on the western shore of the Derwent Estuary where there was an abundance of fresh water. The party, of some 430 persons, was made up of mainly convicts and soldiers. | Transport, Buildings, Water |
| 1804 | Colonel William Patterson establishes the Port Dalrymple settlement on the Tamar River. | Transport, Buildings |
| 1806 | Patterson began the transfer upstream to the present location of Launceston. | Transport, Food |
| 1807 | Lt Thomas Laycock led a five man party on the first European overland journey from Launceston to Hobart. | Transport |
| 1807 | First Norfolk Island settlers arrive in Hobart and establish the town of New Norfolk. | Buildings, Food |
| 1810 | Colony's first newspaper, The Derwent Star and Van Diemans's Land Intelligencer launched by Col Collins. | Communications |
| 1811 | Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived in Hobart Town on his first Viti to Van Dieman's Land. He drew up plans for Hobart streets, ordered the construction of public buildings and the Mount Nelson signal station. | Buildings, Defence |
| 1812 | Northern Tasmania's lieutenant-governorship ceases. Government House in Hobart took control of the whole island. Governor Macquarie made second visit and close sites for Perth, Campbell Town, Ross, Oatlands, Sorell and Brighton. | Buildings, Leadership |
| 1816 | Hobart's first brick bridge opened, crossing the Hobart Rivulet in Elizabeth Street. | Transport |
| 1818 | Anglesea Barracks opened. Oldest continuously occupied military building in Australia. | Defence |
| 1819 | The first road constructed, Hobart to New Norfolk. | Transport |
| 1820 | The first roads macadamised and cart horses began to replace bullocks. | Transport |
| 1821 | Old Hobart Gaol opened. | Buildings |
| 1823 | St David's Church opened. Elevated to cathedral status in 1842. | Buildings |
| 1823 | Richmond bridge opened over the Coal River. It was the first multi-arch structure with six sandstone arches. It is the oldest bridge in use in Australia. | Transport |
| 1824 | Cascade Brewery opened. The building was constructed of granite and was four storeys high. Three more storeys were added in 1927. It is the oldest operating brewery in Australia. | Food, Manufacturing |
| 1828 | Private home Narryna was opened in Hobart. Westella followed in 1835. Both buildings survive. | Buildings |
| 1830 | A new wharf was constructed at Salamanca replacing the old wharf at Hunter Island. | Transport |
| 1830-1840 | Sandstone warehouses constructed at Salamanca Place. | Buildings |
| 1832 | Regular coach services begin between Hobart and Launceston. | Transport |
| 1832 | The Derwent Light (Iron Pot), at the entrance to the River Derwent, was lit for the first time. | Communication |
| 1836 | The Ross bridge over the Macquarie River opened This is a now National Engineering landmark. | Transport |
| 1836 | Bridgewater Causeway completed after six years of construction by convicts labour. Digging and dumping stone created the 730m causeway. The remaining 340m to the northern bank was bridged by a ferry. | Transport |
| 1837 | Theatre Royal in Campbell St Hobart was opened. This is the oldest theatre in Australia. | Buildings |
| 1840 | Perth bridge over South Esk River opened on Hobart - Launceston road. Eight masonary spans of bluestone. | Transport |
| 1854 | Convict arrivals ceased as did use of convict labour. | Leadership |
| 1856 | Van Dieman's Land renamed Tasmania. First sitting of bicameral Tasmanian parliament. | Leadership |
| 1857 | Hobart - Launceston telegraph line into use. | Communication |
| 1858 | First meeting of Hobart Marine Board, Australia's oldest port authority. | Transport, Leadership |
| 1859 | New Government at the Domain occupied for the first time. | Leadership |
| 1860-1870 | Gold mining on the West Coast. | Mining |
| 1864 | Kings Bridge opened across the South Esk River Launceston. Comprised a single wrought iron span. | Transport |
| 1869 | Beaconsfield gold mine opened. Still in use. | Mining |
| 1871 | Tin mining commences at Mt Bishoff. | Mining |
| 1871 | First steam hauled passenger railway opened between Launceston and Deloraine. | Transport |
| 1876 | Railway opened linking Hobart and Launceston. | Transport |
| 1877 | Port Arthur penal settlement closed. | Leadership, Buildings |
| 1893 | Mt Lyell Copper mine opened in Queenstown. | Mining |
| 1895 | Duck Reach Hydro-electric power station opened in Launceston. | Electricity |
| 1901 | Tasmania now a state in the new Commonwealth of Australia. | Leadership |
| 1914 | World War One commences and impacts mineral exports. | Defence, Mining |
| 1916 | Waddamana power station and Great Lakes scheme opened. The first long distance high voltage (88kV) electricity transmission line brought into use between Waddamana and Hobart. | Electricity |
| 1917 | Carbide Works established at electrons, near Hobart, by James Gillies. | Manufacturing |
| 1921 | Electrolytic Zinc Works at Risdon began production. Used concentrates from Broken Hill and the Rosebury Mine. | Manufacturing |
| 1922 | Cadburys Chocolate Factory opened at Claremont. | Manufacturing |
| 1922 | 110kV Transmission line commissioned between Waddamana and Railton. | Electricity |
| 1923 | Cement Works established at Railton on huge limestone deposit. | Manufacturing |
| 1929 | Major flooding, principally in northern Tasmania. 1700 bridges washed away and 22 lives lost. A dam burst and damaged the Derby tin mines and the township. | Water, Transport, Mining |
| 1930 | Tasmania's Hydro-electric Commission created to develop Tasmania's power resources. | Water, Electricity |
| 1930-1940 | Road constructed to the summit of Mt Wellington, Hobart, as an unemployment relief scheme. | Transport |
| 1932-1933 | Kimberley bridge over the Mersey River was the first all-welded steel truss bridge in Tasmania. Similar bridges followed over the Nive River (1933-4), Scamander (1934) and Bridgewater (1942) | Transport |
| 1938 | Associated Pulp and Paper Mill established at Burnie. raw materials mainly hardworking fibre. | Manufacturing |
| 1943 | Hobart Floating Bridge opened and incorporated a lift span with an all welded deck truss. The bridge was an arched concrete pontoon. It was dismantled in 1964. | Transport |
| 1946 | New Bridgwater road-rail bridge opened. Incorporated a lift span. | Transport |
| 1964 | New Tasman Bridge completed replacing the Floating Bridge. | Transport |
| 1967 | Black Tuesday bushfires in February raged through southern Tasmania taking 62 livings and destroying more than 1300 homes. The Carbide Works were a casualty. | Environment, Buildings |
| 1968 | Batman Bridge over the Tamar River opened. | Transport |
| 1969 | Worst flooding in 40 years swept across northern Tasmania. Many bridges lost or collapsed. | Water, Transport |
| 1975 | Ore carrier MV Lake Illawarra collided with a pier of the Tasman Bridge causing two spans to collapse. Twelve lives were lost. A Bailey bridge was constructed upstream and remained until the Bowen bridge was built in 1984. | Transport |
| 1983 | High Court of Australia halts construction of the Gordon Below Franklin Dam. | Water, Leadership |
| 1994 | Last Hydro-electric power station (Tribute) and associated dam completed at Tullah. | Electricity |
Timeline complied by Bruce Cole and Ian Cooper, May 2021.
