The Sale Swing Bridge is located on the South Gippsland Highway

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

, 5 km south of the city of Sale, Victoria,

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 ...

and spans 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 ...

at its junction with the Thomson River. Designed by

John Grainger John Grainger (1830, Belfast– 1891) was an Irish cleric and antiquarian. Grainger was educated at Belfast Academy and Trinity College, Dublin. After gaining a Doctorate of Divinity he became Rector of Broughshane, County Antrim. He was an ind ...

Tibbits, G. R. and Beauchamp, D
John Harry Grainger: Engineer and Architect
at ''3rd Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference 2009''. Retrieved 15 January 2013 and built in 1883 by the Victorian government,City of Sale, Gippsland, Victoria ~ Community Information Website ~ Sale, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
it was the first

movable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

built in Victoria. Its wrought-iron structure, 45 metres long, pivots on cylindrical steel columns. At its peak, the bridge was opened up to 20 times a day, allowing the movement of steamers between Sale and Melbourne. The bridge underwent major restoration works towards the end of 2003, which were completed by the start of 2006. Since the restoration about 2,500 tourists have visited the bridge each year. The Sale Swing Bridge was used as a set in 2007 for the filming of the 2008 film ''

The Tender Hook ''The Tender Hook'' is a 2008 Australian film noir directed by Jonathan Ogilvie and starring Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne and Matthew Le Nevez. The film was retitled ''The Boxer and the Bombshell'' for its North American DVD release. Plot synops ...

'', starring

Hugo Weaving Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English actor. Born in Colonial Nigeria to English parents, he has resided in Australia for the entirety of his career. He is the recipient of six AACTA Awards, Australian Academy of Cinema and Tel ...

and Rose Byrne. In April 2017 vandals lodged a block of wood in the gear mechanism, causing an axle to bend and the bottom roller beam to crack. The bridge was re-opened in July 2017 after a $160,000 repair.

Engineering heritage award

The bridge is listed as an Engineering Heritage National Landmark by Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.

References

External links

Video of the bridge in action

Walkabout – Sale

Exhibitions: A Golden Heritage On-line
Swing bridges in Australia Bridges completed in 1883 Road bridges in Victoria (Australia) Steel bridges in Australia 1883 establishments in Australia Sale, Victoria Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers Victorian Heritage Register Shire of Wellington {{VictoriaAU-struct-stub