Living on Borrowed Time - Bridge 194

 
Train 962 Dunedin to Middleton Freight crosses bridge 194 over the Pleasant River at Goodwood on the 15th of January 2023. Photo by Darryl Bond and used with permission. You can find Darryl's fantastic Flickr page here. 

Over my last few trips to Dunedin I spotted some activity around the old wooden bridge at Goodwood. My interest was further raised last week when I saw a large crane on the north side of the Pleasant River. While I couldn't stop to have a look at the time, I managed to get away from the house for short time to explore and see what was happening.

Arriving at Goodwood I turned off State Highway 1 onto Goodwood Road and then on Brooklands Road. It wasn't long until the bridge and the construction site came into view.

Bridge 194 and the construction site. 12/08/2023

Bridge 194 is a traditional New Zealand railways beam bridge made up of three and five pile piers and 12 spans of steel and wooden beams. The bridge carries the Main South Line over the Pleasant River at Goodwood. 

Goodwood is located about halfway between the Otago towns of Waikouaiti and Palmerston and has the claim to fame as the location where the railway line between Christchurch and Dunedin finally met in 1878.

An overhead view of bridge 194.

While the Pleasant River was nice and calm today, the river rapidly rises and floods if the area has any significant rain. Having a closer look at the bridge, you can see that it's taken a beating over it's many decades of service and is due for replacement.

Bridge 194 crossing Pleasant River at Goodwood. 12/08/2023

With easy access and the thought that this bridge and many like it are quickly disappearing, I decided to get some detail shots of the structure.

The Ontrack bridge information sign on pier 9. 12/08/2023.

The piers at the north end of Bridge 194 including the previously replaced pile and pier cap on the nearest pier, pier 7. 12/08/2023.

Another view of pier 7 with its replacement pile and pier cap. 12/08/2023.

Pier 9 with its steel rings around the center pile. 12/08/2023.

A closeup of piles on pier 9 with the different stamped numbers and markings. 12/08/2023.

The battered and repaired pier 10 on Bridge 194. 12/08/2023.

Brooklands Road passing under the southern end of Bridge 194 looking towards the west. 12/08/2023.

    A detail shot of eastern sides of pier 11 and the southern abutment. 12/08/2023.

A detail shot of the western sides of pier 11 and the southern abutment. 12/08/2023.

Detail shot of the pier cap, bearers, timber beams and sleepers on pier 11. 12/08/23.

Ontracks bridge identification sign and the old 194 bridge number plate on the south abutment. 12/08/2023.

To help get construction material to Goodwood, KiwiRail ran a special train made up log wagons carrying pile casings to the HEB Construction site.

DC 4323 arrives at Goodwood with a special train carrying pile casings. Photo courtesy of the KiwiRail Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/KiwiRailNewZealand  

The first of the pile casings is prepared to be lifted from the special train. Photo courtesy of  the KiwiRail Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/KiwiRailNewZealand 

Pile casings for the new bridge at Goodwood being unloaded. Photo courtesy of the KiwiRail Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/KiwiRailNewZealand

While it's sad to see traditional NZR infrastructure like this bridge disappearing, it is good to see money being invested to improve and upgrade Aotearoa's rail network.

Since I pass this site a lot, I'll make sure to keep you up to date with the challenging work of building a new railway bridge while keeping the line open for traffic. 

And that's about it.