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Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges

Location

Bairnsdale/Orbost Railway (west of Orbost), ORBOST VIC 3888 - Property No B6948

File Number

B6948

Level

State

[1/6]
B6948 Snowy River Floodplain
[2/6]
B6948 Snowy River Floodplain
[3/6]
B6948 Snowy River Floodplain
[4/6]
B6948 Longer of the Snowy
[5/6]
B6948 Long Bridge West End
[6/6]
B6948 Short Bridge 1994

Statement of Significance

What is significant? The Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges, two sequential and exceptionally long and low timber railway bridges on the Snowy River floodplain just west of Orbost, were built in 1916, and provided the original terminus point for the Bairnsdale-Orbost railway. The bridges are 770 metres and 183 metres long respectively. The shorter bridge is of uniformly 4.57 metre (fifteen feet) timber-beam construction; retains its all-timber integrity, and has a sweeping curve in its deck. The longer bridge has a combination of 4.57 metre (fifteen feet) and 6.1 metre (twenty feet) spans, and two 3.66 metre (twelve feet) spans; it has concrete replacing timber in the abutments and a few flood-damaged timber beams have been replaced by steel joists.
The bridges are unusually constructed from 'Southern Mahogany', Eucalyptus Botryoides, which grew along the coast east of Bairnsdale.
The Snowy floodplain bridges were initially built in the context of an early twentieth-century interest in American-style 'Developmental Railways', designed to open remote areas to closer settlement, even if that meant running at a loss.
The line was closed in August 1987.
Classified: 19/05/1998

Why is it significant?

The Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges are historically and aesthetically significant at the State level.

How is it significant?

The Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges are of historical significance, as part of a railway intended to open up East Gippsland for settlement, and to link with south-eastern New South Wales, and ultimately with Sydney via the New South Wales railway that terminated at Bombala.

Originally these bridges were the terminus point for the Bairnsdale-Orbost railway, the railway bridge that crossed the river into Orbost not being constructed until after World War 1.

When these bridges were built six longer timber-beam rail bridges existed in Victoria, but with modifications to the Yarra Valley Viaduct and with the replacement of other timber bridges, by the early 1940's the longer of this pair had become Victoria's longest timber railway bridge.

The Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges are unusually constructed from 'Southern Mahogany', Eucalyptus Botryoides, which grew along the coast east of Bairnsdale.

The Snowy River Floodplain Railway Bridges are of aesthetic significance, as they are fully visible from the Princes Highway and the Orbost-Buchan Road. The long low profiles of these bridges winding across the floodplain from Orbost towards Bairnsdale have long been a significant part of the river plain landscape.

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