Background.

The Viaduct Bridge in Kilcunda is an ex-railways timber trestle bridge owned by Council and has been out of service for approximately 50 years. When the structure was handed over to council, 20+ years ago, it was in very poor condition and has not been maintained since. The structure is part of council’s on-going inspection schedule but is only inspected for safety hazards and does not inform a maintenance program. The 2022 safety mesh installation provides temporary safe passage for users to travel underneath however did not improve the bridge's condition.

August 2024 update

During routine council inspections, significant instabilities were identified at the Kilcunda Unused Viaduct Bridge. Following a risk assessment, Council have appointed a bridge engineer to undertake further inspections and related reporting.

The report concluded, the bridge's northern most span has collapsed, and the southernmost span is at immediate risk of collapse. Decay throughout the bridge has progressed significantly since the last engineering inspection in 2021.

Based on the bridge engineer's advice, council have restricted access to the bridge's base with temporary fencing. The bridge approach are the sections most at risk and the community must not access these areas. At this time, the centre section of the bridge, with safety mesh, remains stable and is safe for continued throughfare.

The engineer's report highlighted the need for further investigation and design work to be carried out on the bridge to provide council advice on available treatment options. Council have requested that the engineer explore the following 4 options as a minimum at this time.

Option 1- Complete demolition of the structure.

This option will eliminate the risk associated with an unstable bridge accessible to the public. This option is an extreme scenario and is not favored by community at this time.

Option 2- Partial Demolition.

This option seeks to remove the unstable sections of the bridge but would retain the skeleton of the bridge with significant weight reduction. The bridge would still have its iconic silhouette and can be enjoyed and photographed.

Option 3- Exclusion Fence.

Council will erect a significant exclusion fence. The fence will be more than 2m high and will be impenetrable. This option's focus will be public safety and may impact "views" surrounding the bridge. Throughfare from Kilcunda Ridge Road to the Bass Coast Rail Trail via the reserve would no longer be possible. Council will explore the addition of a pathway joining the south end of Kilcunda ridge road, west bound to the rail trail.

Option 4- Protection Portal.

Following stakeholder engagement in 2022, the design for the protection portal were significantly modified after concerns that the structure was not considerate of the view and did not fit in with the surrounding landscape.

If the preference is to retain the bridge without any demolition while maintaining a throughfare, a design engineer would be required to re-visit the original 2022 project. A significant protection portal to withstand impact from falling components of the bridge is. An exclusion fence would be required to compliment this work to prevent the public from accessing the structure. This option's focus will be public safety and may impact "views" surrounding the bridge.

Heritage Status

A heritage assessment is underway and will inform the options outlined above. At this time the bridge does not appear on the heritage register nor is it included in a heritage overlay.

What's next?

In the coming months, Council will engage a bridge engineer to carry out the next level of investigation to determine viable options as mentioned above. Council will use the resulting advice to further investigate, design, determine life expectancy and cost each option.

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