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The Murray River in south-eastern Australia has been a significant barrier to land-based travel and trade. This article lists and briefly describes all of the recognised crossing points. Many of these had also developed as river ports for transport of goods along the Murray.
The first bridge to cross the Murray, which was built in 1869, is in the town of Murray Bridge, formerly called Edwards Crossing. To distinguish this bridge from the many others that span the Murray River, this bridge is known as Murray River road bridge, Murray Bridge Tolls applied on South Australian ferries until abolished in November 1961. [42]
This is a table of river distances of various locations along the Murray River upstream from Echuca, Victoria and Mannum, South Australia, arguably the two most important river ports in the steamboat era. Negative values indicate distances downstream.
Goolwa nevertheless developed as Australia's first inland port (1853). Australia's first railway [9] was opened in 1854 to connect Goolwa to Port Elliot. It was later extended to Victor Harbor, allowing goods to move from river boats to ships, so that neither had to negotiate the Murray Mouth. Goolwa was officially established in 1857.
At its peak, Morgan was the second busiest port in South Australia (behind only Port Adelaide), with six trains a day carrying freight from the Murray to the sea at Port Adelaide. As road transport improved through the early part of the 20th century, river transport declined. The railway to Morgan finally closed in 1969.
Mannum's significance as a river port declined with the railways reaching Morgan in 1878 and Murray Bridge in 1886. The largest ship operating on the Murray is the PS Murray Princess, a passenger stern-wheel paddle boat based at Mannum offering weekly cruises.
The Murray–Darling Basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, encompassing the drainage basin of the tributaries of the Murray River, Australia's longest river, and the Darling River, a right tributary of the Murray and Australia's third-longest river.
Prior to the construction of the barrages, during periods of low river flow, tidal effects and the intrusion of seawater were felt up to 250 kilometres (160 miles) upstream from the mouth of the River Murray, approximately as far inland as the river port at present-day Swan Reach.