12-04-2021, 06:28 AM
1
Bet You Didn't Know This!
I learned something today.The Victoria/South Australia border is 3.6km west of where it should be.
The SA/NSW/Victoria border was supposed to be set on the 141' line of Longitude and, indeed so it is between NSW and SA and Queensland and SA. but when it crosses the NSW/Victoria border (the mighty Murray River) the SA border suddenly jumps 3.6km to the west.
The mistake occurred in 1847 when the border was surveyed, the Victorian surveyor's chronometer was 2 minutes out and as longitude was measured by comparing the time at Greenwich with local time it created this error giving Victoria an extra 1425 sq km of territory.
The error wasn't noticed until 20 years later and SA was so incensed by this that the state sued Victoria for stealing its land. Unfortunately the High Court decided to leave the borders as they were so what was supposed to be a dead straight border now has a kink at the Murray River.
BTW the Murray River is entirely in NSW as the south bank is the state border rather than the centre of the river so Victorians fishing in the river from Victoria need a NSW Fishing licence.
12-04-2021, 09:55 AM
5
Re: Bet You Didn't Know This!
Originally Posted by Bathsheba
->
I love things like this! Especially the Victorians having to get permission from NSW to fish in the Murray river. They must hate that crazy anomaly 
I can see how you would think it is crazy. You don't have states. I'm not sure how "hard" county borders are in England (And I don't mean a border like England / Scotland) But laws differ from stat to state here. Especially what you can do with and in the environment And extra specially what you do with rivers and water. Most of the time we respect each other's state laws. They are there for a reason.
12-04-2021, 12:34 PM
6
Re: Bet You Didn't Know This!
Originally Posted by keezoy
->
I can see how you would think it is crazy. You don't have states. I'm not sure how "hard" county borders are in England (And I don't mean a border like England / Scotland) But laws differ from stat to state here. Especially what you can do with and in the environment And extra specially what you do with rivers and water. Most of the time we respect each other's state laws. They are there for a reason.
12-04-2021, 12:45 PM
7
Re: Bet You Didn't Know This!
There are some odd things about the first two states NSW and Victoria apart from their incompatible railway gauges (standard versus broad gauge) they also build different styles of BridgesHere is the bridge across the (dammed) Murray at Yarrawonga. On the right is the NSW section of bridge a style found all over NSW. on the left is the Victorian effort.
You might also notice that the bridge has a curve in it. After each state started their half of the bridge someone noticed that they were going in different directions so Victoria had to change direction to meet the NSW section. If you look closely you can also see the Victorian section is sinking on the curve!
12-04-2021, 05:46 PM
8
Re: Bet You Didn't Know This!
Originally Posted by Bathsheba
->
Yes you're right keezoy - I find it hard to imagine living in a country split into multiple states with their own laws. Even though there are minor differences between the three countries of Great Britain, they don't really impact us. Well, not until Covid, anyway, when the timings and details of lockdowns varied. But given the majority of us were not allowed to travel any distances during these periods, it still didn't affect us! So yes, that would take a little getting used to for me.
|
|
