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RAIL BRIDGE AND EMBANKMENT

Other Name BLUE BRIDGE Location BLUE BRIDGE ROAD MOUNT DORAN, MOORABOOL SHIRE File Number 602111 Level Registered

[1/5] RAIL BRIDGE AND EMBANKMENT [2/5] 1 rail bridge & embankment [3/5] rail bridge & embankment [4/5] rail bridge & embankment [5/5] rail bridge at elaine plan

Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The rail bridge and embankment at Elaine was built in 1859 on the Geelong-Ballarat Line for the Victorian Railways. It is a basalt structure and consists of a single, depressed arch, with end repairs and curved, battered abutment walls. The masonry features impost course, voussoirs, string course in two steps and a heavy parapet capping. It currently carries a single railway line over the Midland Highway.

How is it significant?
The rail bridge and embankment at Elaine is historically and architecturally significant to the State of Victoria.

Why is it significant?
The rail bridge and embankment at Elaine is architecturally significant as a representative and intact example of a basalt bridge, carrying the railway line over the roadway. It was based on classical planning principles, the bridge design was directly derived from the English designs of the 1840s and 1850s in England, employing contemporary stone masonry and building techniques.

The rail bridge and embankment at Elaine is historically significant for its historical associations with the Geelong-Ballarat line, one of the earliest railway lines in Victoria. This was the period of the 'main trunk lines' c.1857 - c.1869, the formative years of railway development in Victoria.