Blanchetown - SA

Information

Located 133 km north east of Adelaide, Blanchetown is a tiny township on the Murray River which was an important transportation centre during the nineteenth century. It is now a strange mixture of historic buildings and temporary shacks built by holidaymakers on the banks of the river. The Murray River at Blanchetown is only 3.6 m above sea level and it is 274 km from the sea.
Blanchetown is where the Murray River’s lock and weir water flow management system starts. The system was constructed along the river in the 1920s and 1930s to help control the water level so that cargo and paddle steamers would always be able to navigate the waterways.
The old bridge in the town gives an excellent view of Lock 1 and circling above are hundreds of hungry pelicans that love to feed on the schools of fish near the spillway as can be seen in the main photo. Here you can also get a great view of the large riverboats that pull into Blanchetown weekly.Before the Bridge was built traffic crossed the River on a Ferry.The first Blanchetown bridge was opened in 1964 by Sir Thomas Playford. The bridge's main claim to fame is that it was the first major prestressed concrete girder highway bridge built in South Australia. It replaced the Blanchetown ferry crossing which had been used since 1869. It cost £510,000 to build.