Split Point Lighthouse

Infobox_lighthouse|name=Split Point
location=Aireys Inlet, Victoria, Australia

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caption=
coordinates =
yearlit=1891
yeardeactivated=
automated=1919
intensity=116,000 cd (White), 23,000 cd (Red)
characteristic = Fl.(4) 20s
elevation=66 metres
range= 37 km(White) 29.5 Km (Red)
foundation=
construction= Concrete, rendered with cement
shape=Conical
marking=White tower, red lantern roof
height=34 m
lens=1st order Fresnel
range =
characteristic = Fl.(4) 20s
fogsignal =
admiralty =K2182
NGA =7984
ARLHS =AUS-154

Split Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse located in Aireys Inlet—a small town on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia.

History

Originally called Eagles Nest Point, the lighthouse was originally built in 1891. It was converted to automatic operation in 1919.

The original British-made first order Fresnel lens is still in use.cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/vic.htm|author=Rowlett, Russ|title=The Lighthouse Directory] However, the factory in Birmingham, where the lens was built, was bombed during war-time and the essential formulas for making the unique lens crystal were lost, should a replacement ever be needed.

A Japanese firm, consulted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, estimated the cost of replacing the lens at more than AUS$1 million.

Under standard Australian lighthouse convention, red filters would usually be placed to the extreme left and right of the beam (indicating "danger zones" for a passing ship, in-line with the jagged coastline). For reasons unknown, the Split Point Lighthouse operated for many years under the opposite system; although this has now been corrected.

The original lighthouse keeper's quarters, a detached house adjacent to the site, is now a privately owned residence.cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/vic.htm|author=Rowlett, Russ|title=The Lighthouse Directory]

Today

Since summer 2005, the Split Point Lighthouse has been offering regular 30 minute guided tours, during which visitors have the chance to climb the original staircase and experience the view from the balcony just below the latern room. Tours had been available for much of the 1990s, but on only a few days per year.

The top of the lighthouse is also now used as a mobile phone base station, making it dangerous to enter the lantern room (or any area above) whilst it is in operation, due to possible exposure to RF radiation.

Popular culture

The popular children's television series "Round the Twist" used the area around the Split Point Lighthouse for many external scenes.The lighthouse features prominently as the scene of a murder in Arthur Upfield's detective novel, "The New Shoe" featuring his famous detective Napoleon Buonaparte

Gallery

References

*reflist
*cite web|url=http://www.lighthouse.net.au/lIGhtS/VIC/Aireys%20Inlet/Split%20Point%20Lighthouse.htm|author=Lighthouses of Australia Inc.|title=The Split Point Lighthouse