Pinera Tunnel

The Pinera Tunnel (also known as the "No. 5 Tunnel") was a railroad tunnel on the Adelaide-Nairne Railway (now Belair railway line) in the Adelaide Hills that existed from 1883 to 1928.

History

The former No. 5 Tunnel was a rail tunnel on the Belair railway line located beneath Main Road that connects the Adelaide Hills suburbs of Belair and Blackwood. It was the first ever railroad tunnel constructed in the Adelaide Hills region. Completed in 1881 as part of the first stage of the Adelaide-Nairne Railway (which formally opened in 1883), the tunnel was replaced by a bridge in 1928.^[1]^[2]^[3] On January 31, 1928, the tunnel was the site of a fatal rail construction accident while rail duplication work was underway and the tunnel was being replaced with a cutting. Six workers were killed when an estimated 150 tons (136 metric tonnes) of earth fell onto the tunnel site during heavy afternoon rains.^[4]^[5]

Construction

All tunnels built along the Adelaide and Nairne Railway in the early 1880s were of the same specification being 16'6" (5.03m) high and 15' (4.57m) wide.^[6] The tunnel was lined with bricks that were made from clay excavated from an adjoining quarry and nearby railway cuttings, and fired at brickworks immediately south of the No. 3 Tunnel in Eden Hills^[7]

Gallery

Train exiting No. 5 Tunnel at Belair, South Australia c.1915
1928 rail duplication works at No. 5 Tunnel.
1928 rail duplication works at No. 5 Tunnel.
Landslide rescue efforts on the evening of 31 January 1928.
Rescue and recovery efforts on the day after the landslide (1 February 1928).
Completed Overway Bridge on 30 June 1928

References

^ "New Belair Bridge". The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser. 30 March 1928. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "Special Inspection of the Adelaide and Nairne Railway". South Australian Register. 7 October 1881. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "The Nairne Railway". South Australian Register. 13 March 1883. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "Dreadful Accident Near Belair". The Adelaide Chronicle. 4 February 1928. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
^ "Railway Accident Near Belair". Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA). 2 February 1928. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
^ "The Nairne Railway Works". South Australian Register. 12 July 1879. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
^ Smith (ed.), Pam; Piddock (ed.), Susan; Pate (ed.), Donald (2005). Historic sites and landscapes: The Mitcham Hills. Kopi Books. p. 4. ISBN 0 975 7359-1-8. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)

External links

Media related to Pinera railway station at Wikimedia Commons

[1] "New Belair Bridge". The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser. 30 March 1928. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[2] "Special Inspection of the Adelaide and Nairne Railway". South Australian Register. 7 October 1881. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[3] "The Nairne Railway". South Australian Register. 13 March 1883. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[4] "Dreadful Accident Near Belair". The Adelaide Chronicle. 4 February 1928. Retrieved 26 October 2020.

[5] "Railway Accident Near Belair". Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA). 2 February 1928. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

[6] "The Nairne Railway Works". South Australian Register. 12 July 1879. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

[7] Smith (ed.), Pam; Piddock (ed.), Susan; Pate (ed.), Donald (2005). Historic sites and landscapes: The Mitcham Hills. Kopi Books. p. 4. ISBN 0 975 7359-1-8. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)

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