Council cites safety risks and high costs in recommending removal of historic Kilcunda structure Photos: Bass Coast Shire Council By Catherine Watson
The Kilcunda Viaduct Bridge will be demolished despite a strong local push to preserve it.
More than 1250 people signed a petition to restore the wooden trestle bridge on the western outskirts of Kilcunda.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to accept the recommendation for demolition, though with a degree of sadness at losing a link to the area’s history.
Constructed in 1910 as part of the old Nyora-Wonthaggi rail line, it has been unused since the line closed in 1978.
The Kilcunda Viaduct Bridge will be demolished despite a strong local push to preserve it.
More than 1250 people signed a petition to restore the wooden trestle bridge on the western outskirts of Kilcunda.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to accept the recommendation for demolition, though with a degree of sadness at losing a link to the area’s history.
Constructed in 1910 as part of the old Nyora-Wonthaggi rail line, it has been unused since the line closed in 1978.
Decades of decay, combined with safety risks and escalating costs, led council officers to recommend full demolition.
“We recognise the community's affection for the bridge,” the report says, “but it does not provide a critical function or strategic purpose. It is not financially sustainable to invest in a structure that serves no operational use.”
“We recognise the community's affection for the bridge,” the report says, “but it does not provide a critical function or strategic purpose. It is not financially sustainable to invest in a structure that serves no operational use.”
The council has already spent more than $175,000 on temporary safety works at the site over recent years, including fencing and protective mesh installations. Rebuilding a replica of the bridge could cost between $800,000 and $2 million, according to a council officer’s report.
“A replacement ‘replica’ structure will need to comply with modern accessibility standards and will have limited heritage value.”
It recommended the site be repurposed as a community space, potentially including a playground or ball court. Interpretive signage and an art installation are also being considered to acknowledge the site’s history, possibly including some of the reclaimed bridge timber.
Cr Jan Thompson said a wooden bridge expert who recently inspected the bridge reported this was the worst decayed bridge he has ever inspected. “He has consulted on many wooden bridges around the world and the only recommendation that he could make was to demolish.”
Cr Tim O’Brien said he regretted the loss of an important link to our history. “The reality is that preservation needed to have been at least put in train maybe 20 or more years ago, but we're too late now.”
Cr Jon Temby said he was keen to see the area made into public open space with information about the bridge. “It could be that we can reuse some of the materials from the bridge to build something there, but to make it a usable public open space would be totally appropriate in my book.”
The iconic Bourne Creek trestle bridge on the eastern outskirts of Kilcunda is not at risk. It is heritage-protected and remains a link in the Bass Coast Rail Trail.
“A replacement ‘replica’ structure will need to comply with modern accessibility standards and will have limited heritage value.”
It recommended the site be repurposed as a community space, potentially including a playground or ball court. Interpretive signage and an art installation are also being considered to acknowledge the site’s history, possibly including some of the reclaimed bridge timber.
Cr Jan Thompson said a wooden bridge expert who recently inspected the bridge reported this was the worst decayed bridge he has ever inspected. “He has consulted on many wooden bridges around the world and the only recommendation that he could make was to demolish.”
Cr Tim O’Brien said he regretted the loss of an important link to our history. “The reality is that preservation needed to have been at least put in train maybe 20 or more years ago, but we're too late now.”
Cr Jon Temby said he was keen to see the area made into public open space with information about the bridge. “It could be that we can reuse some of the materials from the bridge to build something there, but to make it a usable public open space would be totally appropriate in my book.”
The iconic Bourne Creek trestle bridge on the eastern outskirts of Kilcunda is not at risk. It is heritage-protected and remains a link in the Bass Coast Rail Trail.
Extraordinary feat of engineering and manpower
The line was built in 1910 over just 10 weeks. Photo: Wonthaggi Historical Society
The Kilcunda trestle bridge was part of the Woolamai-Wonthaggi railway line, which was built over just 10 weeks in 1910 to cart coal from the new State Coal Mine.
In The Line to Wonthaggi, historian Carolyn Landon writes:
"Some 500 men with bullock teams, ploughs scoops, horse drays but mostly pick and shovel laid the line. The working and living conditions for the men, many with families brought into this final section of the line, were appalling. They were camped cheek-by-jowl all along the line from Andersons Corner to Bourne Creek with little or no logistic support.
"The men working in the summer heat suffered from lack of potable water. Drinking water was taken from any dam at the nearest farm and dysentery was rife. On top of that, bushfires all along the line threatened constantly. However, they managed to lay the last rails to the Mine Terminus on the afternoon of 22 February."
In The Line to Wonthaggi, historian Carolyn Landon writes:
"Some 500 men with bullock teams, ploughs scoops, horse drays but mostly pick and shovel laid the line. The working and living conditions for the men, many with families brought into this final section of the line, were appalling. They were camped cheek-by-jowl all along the line from Andersons Corner to Bourne Creek with little or no logistic support.
"The men working in the summer heat suffered from lack of potable water. Drinking water was taken from any dam at the nearest farm and dysentery was rife. On top of that, bushfires all along the line threatened constantly. However, they managed to lay the last rails to the Mine Terminus on the afternoon of 22 February."