original_query: What is the historical significance of the lift-span in the Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge?
query: What is the historical significance of the lift-span in the Old Cobram-Barooga Bridge?
answer: The lift-span is a relic of the commercial shipping traffic on the Murray River in the late 19th century, though built at the end of that era.  It also reflects the economic and political relationships between NSW, Victoria, and South Australia before Federation in 1901, representing the need to maintain shipping navigation as both a commercial and political necessity.