Longford is a town in the

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. At the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Longford and the surrounding area had a population of 929. It was named Longford because of the long forde across the rivers to get into Sale. It is located at the junction of the

South Gippsland Highway The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale. The highway begins at Lonsdale Street (Princes High ...

and the Longford-Rosedale Road, next to the

Latrobe River The Latrobe River (or sometimes La Trobe or LaTrobe) is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the West Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The Latrobe River and its associated sub-catchment is an import ...

. A new bridge over the floodprone Latrobe River was completed in 2006, replacing the historic swinging bridge. The road approach to the

Sale Swing Bridge The Sale Swing Bridge is located on the South Gippsland Highway Longford, 5 km south of the city of Sale, Victoria, Australia and spans the Latrobe River at its junction with the Thomson River. Designed by John GraingerTibbits, G. R. and ...

was prone to flooding, cutting the road to

Sale, Victoria Sale is a city situated in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria and the council seat of the Shire of Wellington. It had an estimated urban population of 15,682 according to the 2021 census. The total population including the ...

. In September 1998, a large explosion at an

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

operated oil and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

processing plant was responsible for an almost complete shutdown of Victoria's natural gas supply for weeks thereafter. At 12:25pm 25 September 1998 the weld on GP905 cracked and the exchanger failed catastrophically instantly killing two people. A Royal Commission subsequently found that Esso breached health and safety rules, and was responsible for the explosion. Golfers play at the course of the Sale Golf Club on Longford-Rosedale Road. Local identity, Mark Capraro, once set the fastest time from Boggy Creek Rd to Abels Rd in his classic ZC Fairlane.

References

3. ''Glimpses of Longford'' by Deanna Gunning (2010) Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Gippsland Shire of Wellington {{Gippsland-geo-stub