Derwent Bridge
# Derwent Bridge

Derwent Bridge is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Central Highlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 101 kilometres (63 mi) north-west of the town of Hamilton. The 2021 Census it listed with a population of 40 for the state suburb of Derwent Bridge. It is on the Lyell Highway at the southern edge of the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.

It is just south of Lake St Clair and the Lake St Clair visitor centre; and it is north of Lake King William and the Butlers Gorge Power Station.

It is also the last inhabited location before Linda Valley in the West Coast Range - this section of the highway passes through the Wild Rivers National Park. In the past there were a couple of isolated houses along Lyell Highway that have been removed.

Today, Derwent Bridge features not only the bridge alluded to in its name – spanning the Derwent River – but accommodation units, and also a roadside public house.

Derwent Bridge was used as a principal filming location for the 2008 film The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce.

## History

Derwent Bridge was gazetted as a locality in 1959.

Derwent Bridge Post Office opened on 15 February 1937 and closed in 1980.

## Demographics

According to the 2021 Census, Derwent Bridge had a population of 40 people. Males constituted 40.9% and females 59.1% and the median age was 33. The average number of people per household was 1.4 and the median household income $1,292.

## Geography

The Derwent River flows through from north to south. The northern end of Lake King William protrudes into the locality.

## Road infrastructure

Route A10 (Lyell Highway) passes through from east to south-west. Route C193 (Lake St Clair Road) starts at an intersection with A10 and runs north-west until it exits.

