{{Short description|Bridge in Tasmania, Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox Bridge |bridge_name=Sorell Causeway |image=SorellCauseway.JPG |caption= The western approach |official_name= |carries= [[Image:Australian Alphanumeric State Route A3.svg|20px|(A3)]] [[Tasman Highway]] |crosses= [[Orielton Lagoon]] |locale= [[Hobart]], [[Tasmania]], Australia |maint= [[Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources]] |id= |design= [[Causeway]] |mainspan= |length= |width= |height= |clearance= |below= |traffic= |open= 1872 |closed= |toll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= |coordinates={{coord|42|47|53|S|147|32|40|E|region:AU-TAS_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |lat= |long= }}
The '''Sorell Causeway''' is a [[causeway]] that carries the [[Tasman Highway]] across [[Orielton Lagoon|Pitt Water-Orielton Lagoon]], from the western side of {{TAScity|Midway Point}} to {{TAScity|Sorell}} in the south-east of [[Tasmania]], Australia. The causeway and adjacent [[McGees Bridge]] provide vital links between Hobart and two of Tasmania's principal tourist attractions - [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur Historic Site]] on the [[Tasman Peninsula]] and the picturesque East Coast via the Tasman Highway.
== History== In colonial times, the [[Richmond Bridge, Tasmania|Richmond Bridge]] had been the primary crossing point of the [[Coal River (Tasmania)|Coal River]] on the road from [[Hobart]] to [[Sorell, Tasmania|Sorell]] and beyond to the [[Tasman Peninsula]] and [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]].
It had been decided much earlier that if a crossing at Pitt Water could be made, it would considerably reduce the time to reach Sorell.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2006 | url = https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/morrison-askin-4255 | title = Morrison, Askin (1800 - 1876) | publisher = Australian Dictionary of Biography | access-date = 2008-03-05}}</ref> The engineering was difficult, but with a ready supply of convict labour on hand, the causeway was constructed with main force. It was finally completed in 1872.<ref>{{cite web | year = 2008 | url = http://www.sorellbarracks.com.au/history.htm | title = History | publisher = Sorell Barracks | access-date = 2008-03-05 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050616012028/http://sorellbarracks.com.au/history.htm | archive-date = 2005-06-16 }}</ref>
The Sorell Causeway is the second such convict-built causeway in the South-East of Tasmania, and is similar to the causeway section of the former [[Bridgewater Bridge#Fourth bridge|Bridgewater Bridge]] across the [[River Derwent (Tasmania)|River Derwent]].
==Description== In recent years it has undergone massive repairs and modifications. It has been decided that there needed to be a better flow of tidal water from Pitt Water and Orielton Lagoon into the open sea as the stagnation was causing outbreaks of [[Cyanobacteria|Blue-Green Algae]] which was poisoning the other marine species there. As a result, sluice conduits were cut into the lagoon, and a new pile system was created, to turn longer sections of the causeway into actual bridges.
Ever since its construction it has been a major route of access from Hobart to the east coast and the [[Tasman Peninsula]], and is now a section of the [[Tasman Highway]].
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Hobart landmarks}} {{Road infrastructure in Hobart}}
[[Category:Bridges in Hobart]] [[Category:Causeways]] [[Category:Transport infrastructure completed in 1872]] [[Category:1872 establishments in Australia]] [[Category:Road bridges in Tasmania]]