This big old barge lying next to the main bridge was just asking for me to climb down and take some photos On the eastern side of the old bridge are the remains of the Number Four Barge. It was brought from Port Pirie in 1944 to support workmen who were strengthening the bridge for the erection of the Morgan to Whyalla pipeline. The barge was said to be built in Morgan in the 1880''s for carting goods along the Murray.In approximately 1910 Barges Number One and Number Four were purchased by the Adelaide Steam Tug Company to carry ore from Whyalla to the Port Pirie Smelters. Above is the old barge first used to bring salt from the salt works, then it was used as a dance barge. Above is plans of the old barge that is now near the old bridge on the East side This is all that remains, story goes, according the people from the motel we stayed at, that before Port Augusta became a dry zone ( means no alcohol consumption outside) the local aboriginals would get down near the barge to drink their "grog" ( grog in Australia basically means any alcohol ) and in winter when it was cold started to strip the old barge of its wood so they could light fires. from this angle looks more like the remains of a viking ship than a barge

beautiful grain and texture

I wish the local council/heritage people would do something to preserve what ever is left of it, might not mean much to them now as just an old bit of wood rotting away, but I'm sure in a hundred years time the local people would appreciate them for having acted now to try and preserve what's left of it. Australia is only just over 200 years old, so we do not have much history since the invasion of the white people, so any that we do have we should do our utmost to try and preserve it.