- Cataract Gorge
The Cataract Gorge is a river gorge in Launceston, northern
Tasmania ,Australia and is one of the region's premier tourist attractions.A pathway, known as the King’s Bridge-Cataract Walk, and originally built by volunteers in the 1890s, runs along the north bank of the Cataract Gorge [cite web|url=http://www.ausemade.com.au/tas/destination/c/cataract-gorge/cataract-gorge-reserve.htm|title=Cataract Gorge Reserve|date=2008-06-15] [cite web|url=http://www.discovertasmania.com/activities__and__attractions/popular_attractions/cataract_gorge|title=Cataract Gorge|date=2008-06-15] , and is a popular tourist destination.
The
chairlift crossing the Gorge is the longest single span chairlift in the world, with the longest span being 308m (924 ft). [cite web|url=http://www.puretasmania.com.au/default.asp?pID=120|title=Longest Single span chairlift|date=2007-09-22] The chairlift, built in 1972, has a total span of 457m.Before the Hydro Dam was built in the 1950s upstream, flood waters could rise up as high as 12 metres.Fact|date=February 2007 In the past, there was a power station at
Duck Reach , about 2.5 kilometres from the suspension bridge. It was washed away in the floods of 1929, rebuilt and then decommissioned when the new Hydro Dam was finished in 1955. The building is now an interpretive museum.The First Basin on the southern side features a swimming pool and an open area surrounded by bushland.
At the lower end of the Gorge, the South Esk spills into the
Tamar River going underKings Bridge on the way. This was the only bridge leading north out of the city for nearly 100 years.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
