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Wednesday 2 December 2015

Grange Burn Bridge, Hamilton to Coleraine Line

Grange Burn Bridge is located on the outskirts of Hamilton, with the line to Coleraine branching off the Portland line 1.1 Km south of the Hamilton Station. It crosses a small swampy creek (alledgedly a river) with 16 openings, each 20 feet wide, for a total length of 320 feet. It is quite a low bridge, about 30 feet high.

The bridge is easily accessible at the end of Young Street, you can drive to within 200 Metres of the bridge and it is located on council owned land. It is in fair condition, with the obligatory fences at each end, although whether these are for the benefit of stock or humans is unknown. Being rural Victoria, my bet is the stock are more valuable.

I was still trying to get the hang of driving the drone, and on this day the sun kept coming and going, such that by the time I got in the air, it had turned dull. There is also a skill to framing which I have not yet mastered, so please forgive the poor quality of this clip.

Unfortunately for Ian he was descending the embankment when his braking failed and he careened down the hill, head-butting a pile on the first pier on the Down side. The pier, being quite rotten, was knocked out of the ground and took out the remainder of the pier. 20 Metres of bridge collapsed as a result. A herd of cattle, grazing nearby, were startled by the sound of the collapsing bridge and stampeded out of their paddock and into the busy streets of Hamilton, causing a multitude of car accidents.

Sorry, that is a blatant falsity, I got a bit carried away there in Monty Python style. The bridge is fine but Ian got a mild concussion and scrape on his head. 








Video Clip

This clip is best viewed full screen and in High Definition 1080p.





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