The Batman Bridge is a modern

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

that carries the

Batman Highway Batman Highway is a two-lane rural highway in northern Tasmania. The highway links the East Tamar Highway, East Tamar and West Tamar Highway, West Tamar Highways via the Batman Bridge and provides the only crossing of the Tamar River (Tasmania), ...

across the

Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length. Location and features Formed by the ...

, between Whirlpool Reach, Hillwood at its eastern end and

Sidmouth Sidmouth () is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town h ...

/ Deviot midpoint at its western end, in north

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The bridge connects the Batman Highway with the

West Tamar Highway The West Tamar Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It covers the western edge of the Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a r ...

(state route A7) and the

East Tamar Highway The East Tamar Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It covers the eastern edge of the Tamar River, from Launceston to the lighthouse at Low Head. It is labelled as route A8, but prior to 1980 was signed as State Route 1. Plans for ...

(state route A8). The bridge overlooks the Deviot Sailing Club and is named in honour of John Batman, a Launceston businessman and co-founder of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Design features

Built between 1966 and 1968, it was the first

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...

in Australia and among the first such bridges in the world. The main span is long, suspended from a steel

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lette ...

tower. The deck is wide. The tower is on the west bank of the Tamar river, on a solid

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

rock base which carries 78% of the weight of the main span. The length of the bridge is between abutments. The east bank is soft clay not capable of supporting a bridge. A causeway carries the highway across this softer base, supported by four piers built on piles driven up to into the clay. The bridge deck is constructed of steel.

Gallery

Batman Bridge, off Tamar Hwy, Tasmania.JPG, Batman Bridge, off Tamar Highway Batman_Bridge.jpg, View of the bridge from the

Tamar river batman bridge.JPG, Tamar river batman bridge

References

External links

Side view of Batman Bridge shows slanted A-frame support tower.
* * {{Road infrastructure in Tasmania Cable-stayed bridges in Australia Road bridges in Tasmania Bridges completed in 1968 Tamar River 1968 establishments in Australia