A COUPLE of North East and Border landmarks have been acknowledged as engineering marvels.
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![unveiled: Carl Doring, Engineers Australia's Geoff Hayes and Parks Victoria's Andrew McDougall. unveiled: Carl Doring, Engineers Australia's Geoff Hayes and Parks Victoria's Andrew McDougall.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/27e26209-ba3a-42c3-a69f-ee1540119b5a.jpg/r260_136_3869_3360_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![industrial heritage: The Eldorado dredge which could be heard for miles when operating. Pictures: MARK JESSER industrial heritage: The Eldorado dredge which could be heard for miles when operating. Pictures: MARK JESSER](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/b09b8347-0403-4322-a96b-3e83fc8c642c.jpg/r12_161_3595_3341_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bethanga Bridge, which spans Lake Hume, and Australia's largest surviving bucket dredge at Eldorado were awarded national heritage markers at the weekend.
Engineers Australia, the nation's biggest professional body for engineers, bestowed the markers.
A board was unveiled at the dredge on Sunday and a similar ceremony occurred at the NSW end of the bridge on Saturday.
Engineers Australia’s Engineering Heritage Victoria chairman Owen Peake said a permanent sign would be installed near the bridge after negotiations with NSW transport bureaucrats.
Whitlands engineering couple Carl and Margret Doring wrote nominations for both sites with the former focussing on the dredge through industrial archaeological ties and the latter having family ties to towns near the bridge.
Mr Peake said the 752-metre 1930 Bethanga Bridge was the most substantial span erected by water authorities and testament to the power of farmers who wanted access to land and Albury-Wodonga.
![OLD LINK: The Bethanga Bridge from Bellbridge. It opened in 1930, six years before the Hume Dam was completed. OLD LINK: The Bethanga Bridge from Bellbridge. It opened in 1930, six years before the Hume Dam was completed.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/bb477684-33a4-442e-8e28-85fa22b8f710.jpg/r346_92_4125_3456_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
“The bridge is a landmark and complements the Hume Dam itself in terms of national pride and potential tourist value," Mr Peake said.
The dredge began in 1936, scooping up gravel to be screened for gold and tin deposits.
"During 17 years of round-the-clock hard work, the dredge recovered a total of 70,664 ounces of gold plus 1356 tons of tin ore," Mr Peake said.
It was the first gold dredge built in Australia, with a Castlemaine firm responsible.
“It is for this reason, coupled with the fact it is the largest surviving bucket dredge in Australia, that I am pleased to recognise the Eldorado dredge with an engineering heritage national marker,” Mr Peake said.
Mr Peake said financial constraints had resulted in the dredge's owner Parks Victoria unable to fund any of the $600 to $800 spent on the recognition board.
He hopes Transport for NSW helps with the $3000 cost of a fancier frame for the Bethanga Bridge to be erected on the lake side of the Riverina Highway.
Mr Peake said it had been approved by Albury Council and the NSW RMS.
Hume and Dartmouth dams have been previously recognised by Engineering Australia.