The Cavendish and Woodlands Bridges demolished, 1976

The Grampians hosted the 1976 camp, a memorable one. Under Lt Col Bill Oakley the 7 Field Engineer Regiment did a mobile advance to contact from Puckapunyal across western Victoria. That year it demolished two bridges in the same region – the first one with 10 Field squadron at Cavendish on 9 May with 42 lb (19 Kg) of TNT.

The second bridge utilising the Regiment was a 50 metre structure at Woodlands near Stawell on 13 November using 150 lbs (68 Kg) of TNT.

7 Field Engineer Regiment flew by Caribou aircraft from Laverton to Stawell and back again to demo this bridge.

“The Age” reported on Tuesday, November 16 1976

“Army Reserves engineers carefully measured the necessary ingredients in their recipe for obliteration, turned on the heat and retreated to the safety of a bunker to watch their product “rise”

About 63 kilograms of plastic explosive, 11 kilograms of TNT, a bag of ammonium nitrate, nearly 60 detonators and primers, and several hundred metres of detonating fuse that was the recipe for blowing up a 50 metre bridge near Stawell.

Watching from bunkers 500 metres away, the engineers were pleased with the result, declaring it “a nice clean cut?.

An Army Reserve spokesman, Captain Rob Suggett, said: “The idea was to just chop the

bridge down, not scatter it all about the country side. “

“They take great pride in placing the charges in such a way that the bridge just collapses.” side. The “target” for about 90 part-time soldiers from Ringwood and Gippsland was an old

wooden bridge over the Wimmera River on Bulgana Road, 26 km from Stawell.

Sources; Swan Street Sappers, The Age Newspaper

RAEAV Collection PV 89 photos, DC 2091 and DC 2093 The Remnants

NOTE; A colour, silent video of the trip in the Caribou to Stawell, the Demolition and the trip home is available in the Comments.

Mel Constable

RAEAV