Richmond Bridge (Tasmania)

The Richmond Bridge is the oldest stone bridge in Australia wholesale lying on the street in front of the town of Richmond in Tasmania and is traversed until today. The 25 km from the capital Hobart in Tasmania remote bridge was fabricated and built by convicts crafted from sandstone. She could be completed towards the end of 1824 or early 1825 and is Grade II listed as a national monument in Australia since 2005.

The Richmond area was first settled by European settlers in 1803. 1820, the culture was completed, and there was a successfully operated wheat cultivation. Therefore, for the transport of grain a permanent crossing of the Coal River was required. Before the bridge there was only a ford further south of this bridge, which could not be used at high water. In December 1823 the present site of the bridge was selected.

After the completion of the bridge from local sandstones from the Butchers Hill a permanent road link between Hobart, Tasmania's east coast and the Tasman Peninsula was possible. The bridge was built by Thomas Bell, the colonial engineer and the stonemason William Wilson. First, they received the name of John Thomas Bigge Commissioners. Two months after the bridge completion Richmond was appointed to the city and was in 1835 the third largest city of the colony Van Diemen's Land. 1872 was completed in the Sorell Causeway to Hobart, Tasman Peninsula and connected the Hobart directly, whereupon the importance of the bridge sank.

The massive bridge spanning six arches with a span of 4.30, 8.10, 8.30, 8.50, 8.30 and 4.10 meters.

From the 1920s, the bridge was depicted on postcards and recognized in the 1960s, the historical value and significance of this building. Today, it is visited by about 200,000 people annually and is a tourist attraction. Since 25 November 2005 it is registered in the Australian National Heritage List and in the years 1976 and 2000, she was featured on Australian stamps.