Wow Weekend tWo

Having satisfied my Abandoned need for a while, I needed to attend to the other requirements -
So I dragged the bike out of the car and took off along The Domino Trail, an abandoned rail-line now rail-trail still with some of its bridges 

Over Stony Creek

Above - the Doctors Creek Bridge deck, & below - in Doctors Creek

The dilapidated Blue Creek Bridge, I went around, except when I had to venture out for the cache. And finally the brick culvert tunnel through the embankment that crosses the Domino Creek.

Then having logged all the 11 geocaches on the Domino Trail, I needed to bag a trig point, so up the steep Tower Track to the top of Blue Mountain with its communication, trig & fire towers. It was on the way down that I spied the red leaves of a deciduous tree in the forest AND found a cemetery! The Newbury-Blue Mountain Cemetery is reverting back to bush, but is still open, it had its most recent burial about 1980.


The trig & fire towers
 

The exotic tree in the cemetery

The path into the Newbury-Blue Mountain Cemetery

Next Sunday - a change of pace

Bridges - the book

‘Historic and Significant Bridges of Australia’ by Don S. McMahon

I was impressed enough with this book that I purchased my own, even if it is to cross off each one as I visit them.

The sandstone Ross Bridge over the Macquarie River in Tasmania. It was built in 1836, and its intricate ornate cravings on each rib were done by 2 convicts  

Included in this study are a variety of Australian bridges, from the convict-built structures including Stone Arch and Brick Bridges, through to Metal Bridges up until 1880, Concrete Bridges up until 1910, and bridges that have historic or constructional significance.

The contents are divided by state, and then further divided into construction style. Don has attempted to obtain the date of its construction/opening, and details of its length, span, and use.

The bluestone Batesford  Bridge over the Moorabool River near Geelong. The Midland Highway now bypasses the bridge.

 The book also includes all the bridges found in Australia Post’s ‘2004 Landmark Bridges’ stamp series (Ross Bridge in Tasmania, Lockyer Creek Bridge in Queensland, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Birkenhead Bridge in Adelaide, and the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne).

Unfortunately no wooden bridges are included, maybe Don will create another entire book for them.

The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, from across Farm Cove. The steel arch bridge was built in 1932 it carries 8 lanes of road traffic and 2 railway lines. It is the world's widest long-bridge & Australia's longest span bridge.

Tested trestles

So much after my own heart (this proves I’m not alone) here is 'Highest Steam: 9 Abandoned Railroad & Train Bridge Trestles', another WebUrbanist post.

Durable by design and situated by necessity in difficult to access locations, railway trestles are often all that remain when rail lines are closed and abandoned.

Tallulah Falls Railway, Georgia

Georgia’s Tallulah Falls Railway operated for nearly 90 years – from 1st September 1871 to 25th March 1961. The railway featured in several films including 1951′s ‘I’d Climb the Highest Mountain’ and the 1955 Disney production, ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’. The 1972 epic film ‘Deliverance’ (have Duelling Banjos playing) featured two of the main tourist attractions of the Tallulah Falls Railway: the waterfall at Lake Tallulah Falls, and the view from Tallulah Gorge.

Only the steel & concrete trestles of the Tallulah Falls Railway remain

In order to keep trains running on the straight and level along the railway’s 58 mile stretch from Cornelia, Georgia to Franklin, North Carolina,they had more than 40 wooden trestles and one series of steel and concrete trestles constructed. It’s little wonder the railway closed due to a mounting and unsustainable debt load.

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, Michigan

A combination wood and steel trestle and pocket dock was constructed in 1931, to bring iron ore to ships waiting in Marquette, Michigan’s lower harbour. 

The wooden trestle portion standing in majestic solitude after the adjoining steel dock was salvaged

The dock officially closed on December 31st, 1971 when ore shipments were diverted to Escanaba and the railway, trestles and dock subsequently fell into disrepair. In the early 2000′s, redevelopment resulted in portions of the trestle and dock being demolished.

Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railroad, Colorado

In 1903 when the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railroad first laid rails across the Great Divide at Colorado’s 11,660 foot high Rollins Pass, it was hailed as a triumph of American railway engineering. 25 years later, another engineering triumph – the Moffat Tunnel – negated the need for the Rollins Pass line and the rail bed was converted to accommodate road traffic.

Devil's Slide

  









Supported by the east and west Devils Slide Trestles, the route has been off-limits to vehicles since 1990 when a rock slide blocked the Needle’s Eye tunnel. 
Hikers and cyclists are still allowed to cross the over-a-century-old wooden trestles, though one might end up meeting the Devil himself should he or she take an unexpected slide.

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, Yukon, Canada

 This isn’t the “After The Gold Rush” Neil Young was thinking of, though it’s almost as moving as the man’s music, and any excuse to play the track.

The old Dead Horse Gulch railroad trestle bridge is on the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad to the heart of the Klondike. The rail line was constructed during the gold rush of the 1890s. The Dead Horse Gulch bridge being built in 1899. 
After 70 years of stalwart service, it was bypassed in 1969 by a new tunnel and bridge designed to withstand the weight of loaded ore trains from the Faro lead-zinc mine, which opened the same year. 
The new bridge was just a stone’s throw from the old one, providing riders on the revived WP&YR Heritage Railway an awesome sight, especially when the fog rolls in.

Florida East Coast Railway, Florida

Just over 101 years ago and 7 years after construction began, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railway was finally completed. Dubbed “the Overseas Railroad” and “the 8th wonder of the world”, Henry Flagler’s dream was made real at the cost of $50 million and the lives of dozens of workers. Until 1972 the Bahia Honda Rail Bridge connected Bahia Honda Key and Spanish Harbor Key. The Hurricane of 2nd September 1935 put the money-losing railway out of business. Flagler’s innovative bridge construction techniques were not wasted, however, being quickly re-purposed into the 127.5 mile (205.2km) long Overseas Highway that opened in March of 1938 (the Overseas Highway was substantially rebuilt in the 1970s and ’80s).

The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge looking more like a take-off ramp

 The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge’s notorious gap wasn’t caused by storms or decay - two spans of the bridge were removed to accommodate boat traffic and discourage pedestrian use of the span.
As always there are more photos and stories at WebUrbanist.

Moments in time

While doing some research on digitisation programs on the Net, I came across a link to a wonderful new book - "Moments in time : the State Records Authority of New South Wales".

State Records NSW holds tens of thousands of archival photographs from the late 19th century through to the present. They are undertaking a digitising program to bring these images to light, you can see the images online at their website, or on their Flickr account, or in their book "Moments in time".

There are beautiful old sepia and glass slide photographs from the grand - the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to the squalid - The Rocks area.

The portico and side galleries, Art Gallery NSW

Cumberland Place, The Rocks, c1901

The book is divided into three broad chapters: Sydney Harbour Bridge, Transport (which begins with the dramatic shot of the steam locomotive half balanced on the cliff edge of the Zig Zag Railway), and Sydney. 

The photographs make ideal subjects for the "Now & Then" project, I know I'll attempt to catch the scene on the front cover. Have already worked on one of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge "Eastern Footway looking north" taken on 3rd September 1931. Mine wasn't from quite the same angle (had I only known at the time), but it shows the change to the Sydney landscape and skyline, and from the construction workers to the Bridge Climb tourists (they did it without the steps).

Sydney Harbour Bridge - September 1931 & October 2011

Green engineering

Aaahhh bridges and WebUrbanist, a perfect combination in this post -  Living Infrastructure: Grow-it-Yourself Jungle Bridges

The calm pools of water in Nongstoin in Meghalaya, India are the perfect place to bathe or relax, their waters typically shallow enough to stand in. But this peacefulness is rare, this area of India gets an astonishing 49 feet (15 metres) of rain on average each year. Flash floods come quickly and without warning. The locals need bridges that are stronger than steel in order to cross. Their solution? Growing their own. A native species of rubber tree is the ideal medium for living bridges that can withstand rivers that run with deadly force.

For 500 years, they have been manipulating the secondary roots of the ficus elastic (the rubber bush), which grow along the length of the trunk. The roots can be bent, twisted and taught to grow in certain arrangements. Using hollowed-out betel nut trunks as a lightweight skeleton for the bridge, the villagers encourage the roots to grow from one side of the bank to the other, creating a platform. Because the roots are living, they won’t rot, even in the face of constant moisture. 

The bridges can support the weight of up to 50 people at once, and are even built in ‘double-decker’ form. It can take decades for them to stretch across a river or farm, but they continue to grow in strength.

A bridge over troubled waters

I saw in the news last night that Kirwans Bridge near Nagambie has been closed to road traffic, after many years of being a vital passage for road users from one side of the Goulburn River to reach the local township of Nagambie.
Apparently the current bridge is unrepairable. Without the bridge the local residents are being forced to drive the back-way to Murchison or around the dirt roads behind the Goulburn to Chinaman's Bridge to reach the township - turning a 10 minute journey to 40+ minutes.
The bridge was the host of the longest lunch held in March every year. It is a piece of history.

The 310 metre long Kirwans Bridge is situated over the Goulburn River at Bailieston near Nagambie. It was opened in 1890 to provide access to Nagambie and the railway for the mining areas of Bailieston and Whroo.

In 1955 the bridge was modified by the construction of a new superstructure, in which its timber beams were replaced by rolled steel joists placed over the ancient piers, and its deck narrowed to a single lane, with passing bays maintaining the full 21 feet (6.3 metres) original width. The bridge retains its original forty-eight spans of sixteen and a half feet (5 metres), and its original seven main river-channel spans of thirty-three feet (10 metres). Its tall timber trestles are largely immersed under Lake Nagambie. Remnants of its original squared beams and strutted corbels - one of only two remaining examples in Victoria - are clearly visible beside the bridge. The bridge features a mid-stream bend, and is also unique in its incorporation of two vehicle passing-bays. It is set at the northern arm of Lake Nagambie, a very popular boating and fishing venue.

It is of historical significance as a work directly associated with Alfred Deakin’s dream of a great ‘National’ irrigation system based upon the construction of the Goulburn Weir. Consequently, with nearby Chinamans bridge, it was built entirely with Victorian government funds, a factor in its large size.

So significant was the access to Nagambie it provided, for those living on the west of the Goulburn River, that a threat to the bridge's continuing future in the mid-1950s led to a municipal secession movement that enlarged the Shire of Goulburn at the expense of Kirwans’ original builders, the Shire of Waranga, it remains a memorial to that municipal protest.
Kirwans Bridge is also one of a unique group of four large timber road bridges from the 1890s, of contrasting types, located on the Goulburn River between Seymour and Murchison; this is the last remaining group of large old timber river bridges in Victoria. It is of scientific significance as one of only two extant Victorian timber bridges retaining vestiges of a colonial 'strutted-corbel' type of river-bridge design. Only at Kirwans and the Jeparit Bridge is it now possible to study examples of this historic European form of timber-bridge craftmanship.

Although its visual effect is not greatly different from that of the equally rare and historic ‘strut-and-straining-piece’ design of nearby Chinamans Bridge, the detail and mechanics of the stringer-support system are structurally different. Kirwans Bridge also provides a remarkably successful example of engineering adaptation to changing vehicle needs, over more than a century. It has an exceptionally long timber deck; no road bridge in Victoria is longer.

Kirwans bridge was busy with traffic on the day I took the photos in 2008.
Info from The Bridge's Facebook page and Heritage Victoria's significance statement

Holiday pics

Hard to imagine it's been a month since I've added a post.

My excuse - I've been on holidays. To prove it here are some of my shots.

Went to Troubridge Island and stayed in the lighthouse keepers cottages below.

It was a lighthouse odyssey, we visited a dozen lighthouses, including the unusally coloured orange lighthouse at Cape Banks, site of the Admella tragedy,

and the atomspheric Point Malcolm (all very Wuthering Heights)

We saw some wonderful scenes including these creatures - Homer the NZ fur seal, and these Little Penguin chicks.

There was the history element - staying in the Inneston ghost town where they mined gypsum.

A number of shipwrecks, including this one of the Ethel hence the lighthouses.

And finally there was even an abandoned bridge or two.

It ticked all the boxes!

Bizarre and perilous bridges

Glad to know there are more people out there who have a fascination with old bridges. Here is WebUrbanist's 68 of the world's most bizarre and perilous bridges Some I've seen before, but I'm so impressed with El Camino Del Ray!

El Chorro. Camino Del Rey (link straight to the YouTube video) this bridge is crazy dangerous. Would you be brave enough, or perhaps stupid enough, to cross El Camino Del Ray? Translated, it means The King’s Pathway. It is in total disrepair and is a death trap in Spain. About 700 feet up along the El Chorro gorge, the narrow path is three feet wide in places where it’s not crumbled away. There are hardly any handrails. Can you imagine crossing this, nevertheless filming it as you go? It would either be insane, or insanely fun. But amazed at the number of people on the walk with the photographer, people wearing packs which would add another dimension to balancing.
Have the shouted catch-cry “don’t go too near the edge” reverberating through my head.

Beautiful bridges

 So I'm not alone.
There are other people out there in the Net-world who take an interest in photographing bridges.
Here is the link to the Top 20 most popular bridges in the world
(By the way, the Sydney Harbour Bridge makes it at Number 3).

Bridges to nowhere

Bridges that should be abandoned:- here are some of the most dangerous rope hanging or suspension bridges around the world

Real Indiana Jones stuff, as you'd expect in the jungle

More at this site

Hence the term "only a mountain goat"

#55 SlideSharing

SlideShare is an online community for sharing presentations. It lets you upload presentations and share them online through a Youtube style interface. You can Share slideshows publicly or privately, and Embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
Like other social networking services, you can add tags to your presentations, and/or comment on others’ presentations.
For the Exercise I had to set up a free account with SlideShare, and search for and embed a slideshow in your blog then blog about the experience and what use you could find for SlideShare.
Obviously the sharing of conference presentations is the first use you'd consider (never have to actual attend in person anymore!). The 100MB limit will keep any presentation brief however, as I found if converted to a pdf file. I chose to also create a presentation (on something that interests me!) and it's embedded below. First attempt Blogger refused to allow it, but better luck second time.

A Heritage Of Bridges

View more presentations from SlipSliding.