Otago Central Railway [61U]: Alexandra-Cromwell 18

Not the railway, but this is what I have been working on for the Clutha valley north of Cromwell.

The area on the left is called Lowburn and on the right is Northburn.

The Lowburn bridge was built in the mid 1930s and replaced a punt.

The old NZMS1 map of the Clutha valley from Cromwell north. Lake Dunstan covers about 1/3rd of the distance from Cromwell to Wanaka, the river’s source. There have been in the past plans for hydro development at Queensberry and Luggate but nothing has eventuated. The Clutha is further dammed downstream of Clyde, at Roxburgh, which was built in the 1950s. 

After 60 years of faithfully serving the local community, the Lowburn Bridge was submerged beneath the rising waters of Lake Dunstan as the sluice gates on the Clyde Dam were closed to fill the hydro lake. The bridge is still there at the bottom of the lake with an old car sitting in the middle of it.

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