1985: A Bridge Named After an Engineer is Opened in Australia

March 12, 1985

A prestressed concrete bridge in southeastern Australia was officially opened to traffic. This 1,086-foot (331-meter)-long structure, which carries the Sturt Highway across the Murray River, serves as a link between the town of Buronga in the state of New South Wales (NSW) and the city of Mildura in the state of Victoria.

The bridge was named in honor of Canadian-born engineer George Chaffey (1848-1932). His wide-ranging accomplishments included developing water distribution networks throughout large areas of southern Australia and — as a key part of these efforts — establishing Mildura as an “irrigation settlement” that ultimately became the major producer of fruits and wine that it is today.

The public officials taking part in the dedication of the George Chaffey Bridge included Peter Morris (born in 1932), the Australian federal government’s minister for transport from 1983 to 1987; and Laurie Brereton (born in 1946), the NSW minister for public works and ports between 1984 and 1987. Steve Crabb (born in 1943), the Victorian minister of transport from 1982 until a little over two months after the opening of the bridge, also participated in those inaugural festivities.   

Photo Credit: Mattingbgn (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)

For more information on the George Chaffey Bridge, please check out  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Chaffey_Bridge

A video of the opening of this bridge can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fsrCCmkgK8