Cataract Gorge
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The Cataract Gorge is a river gorge in northern Tasmania, near Launceston, and is one of the region's premier tourist attractions.
The chairlift crossing the Gorge is the longest single span chairlift in the world, with the longest span being 308m (924 ft).[1] The chairlift, built in 1972, has a total span of 457m.
Before the Hydro Dam was built in the 1950's upstream, flood waters could rise up as high as 12 metres.[citation needed] 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 under Kings Bridge on the way. This was the only bridge leading north out of the city for nearly 100 years.
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