South Gippsland Railway Line - Tarwin River Bridge 1 at Koonwarra

Tarwin River West Branch Bridge 1 at Koonwarra. The two bridges in this group crossed the Tarwin River West Branch twice where it curves around in a loop. In both cases, from the Up end, they cross the river first, then the small flood plain beyond. In between each bridge is a shallow cutting connecting them. The Great Southern Rail Trail is heading inexorably towards these bridges, but this time, instead of building a parallel walkway alongside, as they did at Meeniyan, they are repairing the existing trestle sections across the flood plain and planning a new construction section over the river itself. Equipment was on-site when I visited the bridges, with a temporary aluminium footbridge across the river to get to the middle section. This bridge is 152 Metres long, including approaches, most of which will be the remediated structure. As usual, there were cattle who offered photographic advice - like in Go Take Them Pictures Elsewhere!

Looking along the (missing) deck towards the river. The structure that now exists appears to be the parts that have been selected to remain. Note piles partly encased in cement, an interesting practice as I am told it simply accelerates the decay.

Side view, with piles of discarded bridge components in the right distance, and the West bank of the river in the dark area.

Looking back from the river to the cutting in the over-exposed area of the shot. The concrete block in the foreground will form the foundation for the new bridge structure across the river.

Looking across the river to the Up side with the new bridge foundation footing evident and the abutment prepared for the new bridge.

Showing the extent of the remediated bridge section, and the piles of discarded components to the left.