Tuesday, 17 February 2009

Still lighting the way

Still in the same vein, here is possibly the world's smallest lighthouse (excluding all those modern lights on a pole which are proliferating the world).
This lighthouse is at the entrance of the Port of Koror in Palau, and is only slightly larger than its doorway.
And on the subject of mere lights on poles, this entry from the Lighthouses of Australia site - Today an insignificant steel pile with a solar panel on top marks the Gellibrand's Point reef in Port Phillip Bay, without the grandeur of its predecessor the Gellibrand Pile Light.

In 1906, a piled structure was constructed in 32 feet of water. It comprised 33 piles up to 70 feet long driven into the sea bed, 3000 tons of bluestone blocks were placed around the base to stabilise the light.
On the foggy morning of 21 June 1976, the fog horn was not operating, and the pile light was hit by the "Melbourne Trader", a vessel of 7,000 tonnes. The force of the collision snapped the piles at waterline area, the light was sheared off its piles at water level, pushed 20 feet sideways, and was left hanging precariously on the remaining piles. The piles were 70 years old and their diameter had diminished from 2 feet to about 9 inches in the tidal zone.
The engine room and lower deck were submerged and the house and light tower were precariously balanced, threatening to topple over into the water. The light was considered to be on the brink of tumbling into the sea, so Ports & Harbours gave the order to set fire to it on 23 June 1976. The lantern and dome of the light were salvaged, and set up in the maritime museum complex alongside the barque "Polly Woodside".

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