A piece of history Traditional Cache
bwpbwin: Removed from site due to flood damage around area, will be awhile before we can relist
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This is all thats left of the old original lift span bridge built in 1924 and dismantled in 1984. . A bit of history from NSW roads web site. Mildura municipality was a corporate reality in 1890: there were already four suburbs, a port, a shipyard. The first dried fruits of the irrigation scheme were sold in 1891. But the bank crashes of 1893 and conflict between the Chaffeys and the Irrigation Trust led to dramatic failure and the dismantling of the Chaffey empire in 1896-7: George went off to irrigate the Colorado desert instead. Mildura did not begin to recover until soldier settlement allotments began there from 1921 onwards and the dried fruit industry revived. All this activity in the 1880s, 1890s and 1920 onwards created a need for transport facilities beyond the river steamers, which were in decline after 1890. A punt was, however, the only way across the Murray until 1924 when a bridge with a lift span was built just upstream, linking with the railhead which connected Mildura to Melbourne. There was no need for a railway bridge since the New South Wales system did not go further south-west than Hay. The 1924 bridge was demolished in 1984 when the present bridge was erected at the same place, using the same access routes in both states. William Chaffey (who had remained in Australia) is commemorated by a statue in the city; George has his commemoration in the naming of the bridge.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arj oevqtr raq bs byq fgrry fgehpgher evire fvqr (vafvqr)
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