Structures

One of Australia’s biggest trees at 51 metres tall, the Diamond tree. There is also a similar one called the Bicentennial Tree at 71 meters with a similar design. Some may find it difficult to see the structure here from the bottom, but there is a wooden hut up there, and there’s only one way to get to it... Pegs were hammered into the tree around 65 years ago, and the exact same ones are still used today. The wooden hut was built up there in 1939, and people would live up there for ages and use it as a fire lookout. There are several other trees that were used for the same purpose and together they could pinpoint any fire that threatened nearby towns.

On the most South-Westerly point in Australia, there is a lighthouse. But not just any lighthouse. The Cape Leeuwin is the tallest lighthouse on Australia’s mainland with seven floors and 18 sets of steps, impressive huh. What’s more, it has tackled winds exceeding 170 kilometres per hour. In high winds the light house rocks a few centimeters from side to side on its foundations. Built from 1895 to 1896 the tower was built out of local limestone. The early designs for the lighthouse included a second tower that wasn’t as high. It would give out a red light. But the idea was scrapped when it was thought that the second light would confuse ships and draw them closer to the dangerous Cape. The single kerosine light worked though and it could be seen for over 40 kilometres. In 1955, a radio beacon was installed.

Looks like it would be painful to climb over doesn’t it. Well that’s why it was made! Instead of barbed wire at Albany’s old gaol, they have glass cemented in on top of the walls.

This is Port Augusta’s old water tower. Instead of letting it rust away, some ingenious person came along and turned it into a look out. They put in stairs leading up to where the water would usually be kept and cut out four holes in the side of the tank to give you a pretty much 360 view. Then, they put bars across the holes so that people and other objects couldn’t fall down but so that you could still see out.

Coming soon...

Doesn’t look like much does it? Well, this building with two chimneys, has stood in the sand for almost 150 years! And it is made out of sand stone. In 1874, the WA Legislative Council voted £15,000 (around $2,250,000 in today’s Aussie dollar)for the construction of a telegraph line from King George Sound, Albany Western Australia to Eucla on the border with South Australia. The first message that was sent on the telegraph line was

‘SATURDAY 7 PM (DECEMBER 8TH 1877)

EUCLA LINE OPENED. HURRAH’

Coming soon...

Deep, big, and extremely dangerous, can you guess what it is? An open cut mine. Luckily, the miners can breath easy as the sides of a mine are on a slight angle to prevent the wall falling in. Also, there are big steps that stop rocks falling to the bottom that could hit miners. The mine cuts through 3000 miles of tunnel dug by early miners. Special machines test all new ground cut and lay out markers where no body is to cross, to prevent people disappearing into tunnels.

Coming soon...

The 40 metre high tree top walk at Walpole is not for the faint-hearted, although wheelchairs can go on it with ease, some people would rather watch. Like most tree top walks, the Valley of the Giants has lots of suspension bridges put together to make the walkway. At each end of the bridges, there are towers that are anchored to the ground, holding the walkway up. Sixty metre long supporting struts made of thick metal balance the gang ways. The walk ways are designed to sway and flex. In the construction of the walkway, no helicopters or cranes were used. Unfortunately, there was one death while it was being made.

Coming soon...

Our first structure on the trip, and it only took 2 months to make while working 10 hours a day. It built on a chassis made of square tube steel and gets most of its rigidity from the sheets of flat steel that make up the sides.