Saturday 9th May
On Saturday we went to Sale. It was a 3
1/2 hour drive to get there. On the way there we saw these! I thought
they are funny.
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| Do you like the haystack Minions? They have tyre goggles! |
Also we saw the swinging bridge swinging to let a
tiny boat go through.
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| Bridge open! |
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| Bridge closed! |
Mum's note:
Sale is a port town on the Gippsland lakes system. The swing bridge is a marvellous feat of engineering, opened in 1883. It was recently restored and is operated 3 times weekly by means of petrol motors driving hydraulic winders to rotate the bridge - achieved through a complex series of gears. Originally the winding was done by hand by two people up to three times per day! When the bridge locks into place there are two jacks on each end that lift the span so that the weight is on the brick buttresses and not the central turning mechanism.
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| Fully open. |
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| Central pillar with rotation mechanism. |
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| Closing...... |
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| Close up of join between permanent span and swinging span. |
Getting here we drove through the Latrobe Valley. One of the things you can't help but see is the massive coal burning power station. Isabel did not like it and said so. This sparked a very interesting conversation about alternative power sources, and their respective pros and cons.
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