Cache #56
Stop number one on the Border Loop, and the only one in Albury-Wodonga (though technically Lake Hume Village). The viewing area is for Bethanga Bridge, which is a road bridge over a flooded section of a Murray River valley that now forms part of the Hume Dam. The bridge consists of nine spans of 82 metres, each span being supported between double reinforced concrete pylons by a riveted steel camel back Pratt truss plus a 14-metre approach span on the New South Wales side. The overall span is 752 metres. The road deck was initially timber but was replaced in 1961 with the current concrete waffle slab deck. The road deck is 7.7 metres wide. In 1961 the bridge deck and truss structure was also raised by 300mm in response to the upgrading of Hume Dam and works to increase the storage capacity of the dam. In 2005 the waffle slab decking was replaced to raise the load capacity, new guard rails were installed and the NSW approach to the bridge was widened for safety reasons.
Bethanga Bridge was built between 1927 and 1930 as a joint venture between New South Wales and Victoria as part of the Hume Dam project as a key element of the River Murray Waters Agreement put in place in 1915 by the Victorian, New South Wales, South Australian and Federal governments to regulate the flow of the Murray River as a provision against drought and to ensure that the three states received their agreed share of water. Consequently it is considered of heritage value in both NSW (www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1000355) and Victoria (https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12738).
There is safe parking here but the viewing area can be busy. The cache is of a common type, and stealth may be required to access it. You will need to bring your own writing implement for this one.
The Border Loop Series
After a recent trip to Batlow, we returned to Albury via the southern shore of Lake Hume – I have since found out the local council is promoting it as the “Great River Road”. It was a great drive and has inspired me to put out a trail to encourage more people to visit this amazing part of Australia. Not certain how many caches will be in place in the end – consider it a work in progress, and we will add caches as the time to explore the roads is available. Some of the larger containers may have clues for puzzles, so keep your eyes open!
The original loop will be from Hume Village to Wymah Ferry via Walwa and Jingellic (with the odd diversion). This is about 160km of driving, but is a windy and scenic drive following the north arm of the lake. There is limited fuel available, so it may be wise to fill up before you start. The River Road on the northern side is dirt, but every attempt has been to place the caches in safe parking areas (and cache notes will indicate those that are in dirt sections). The series is intended to be done traveling the Victorian side first (from the west), but could be done the opposite direction (some of the puzzles and multis may require some backtracking though). There may be some short walks as well, but all will be close to the main trail.
Reception along the road is poor so you may need to download to a GPS or make a list. I have attempted to make things as safe as possible, but please take care driving on these windy roads, and keep an eye on kids and pets at the caches. As with all Australian bush caches, snakes may also be an issue in warmer months.
We hope you enjoy this series – feedback (both positive and negative) is always welcome.
Enjoy!
FTF - Congratulations the_stephenson5