The Dingo Fence - Outback Australia

by Lexa Harpell

Title

The Dingo Fence - Outback Australia

Artist

Lexa Harpell

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

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The Dingo Fence - Outback Australia by Lexa Harpell.

The Dingo or Dog Fence stretches 5,614 kilometres over three states and one of the longest structures in the world. Built of posts and wire mesh it stands at 2 metres high.

Its early construction began in 1880 when sheep farmers built these fences around their properties to prevent dingos (Australian wild dogs) from killing their stock at alarming rates.

It grew rapidly and by 1885 over 5,000 kms of fence was built to create a barrier to the relatively fertile southern Queensland and eastern states - keeping the dingos at bay.

Spinifex blows across the landscape and caught by the mesh. The mesh folds at the bottom and secured with rows of rocks.
The track on the left-hand side of the fence is for the maintenance workers who travel along the fence line for repairs. It's a huge, ongoing job with the fence sitting mostly in remote areas of the Outback.

*Did I hear you ask about the roads that cross the fence line???

Well, there are large cattle grates on the road. A series of rectangle metal poles laid horizontally with large gaps between each pole.

Animals do not walk over gaps in case a leg falls in one of the gaps. The metal poles are thin-ish, so there is no stable place for them to place their foot.

Uploaded

June 11th, 2021

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