South Gippsland Railway Line - Tarwin River Bridge 2 at Koonwarra

Tarwin River West Branch Bridge 2 at Koonwarra. The second of the two bridges is 146 Metres long including approaches, and is almost identical in construction to the first bridge. It is also being rebuilt in the same way, by repairing the approach trestles and building a new section over the river. The rail trail has been built right up to the Down abutment and then fenced off to keep people like me out of the work site.

Looking West or Up from the Down abutment. This looks to be where the work is currently being focussed, judging by the presence of the lift unit.

View from ground level on the flood plain. I rather fancied that little blue lift, but they had taken the keys. The area is quite soft and large amounts of rock had been spread in the area to make it workable.

Showing the far bridge abutment, going into the cutting. I am not sure what the purpose of the cut-off piles is, as this section is supposed to be new construction.

Wider shot of new bridge area.

Reverse angle shot of the approach spans. The barrier fencing can just be seen at the far end. They appear to be trying to preserve the original structure as much as possible, but I did not see any evidence of new timber being used to replace rotten sections. Perhaps that will be in the next stage of work.

Wide view from the Up end abutment of the full bridge.