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Shortly into the gorge, two tunnels have been cut through schist rock bluffs. Poolburn No.1 is 201 m (659 ft) long, and the curved
Poolburn No.2 is the longest tunnel on the line at 229 m (751 ft) long. Torches are needed to walk or cycle through these tunnels (typically provided
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The bike track gently descends through the scenic
Poolburn Gorge from east to west and takes in the Poolburn Viaduct, the two tunnels cut through schist rock, and the bridge over the Manuherikia River. Just after the second tunnel, two short walking tracks can be explored - one to the bluff above
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Shortly after exiting the
Poolburn Gorge, the track crosses the Manuherikia River on the 110.6 m (363 ft) long Manuherikia Bridge No.1 (number 70 on the Otago Central Railway line). This concrete pier bridge is the longest on the line and was completed in 1903. It is one of only two
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The
Poolburn Gorge section of the Otago Central Branch Railway encompasses two bridges and two tunnels, and gently snakes along the true left (south side) of the gorge. The construction of the railway line through the gorge took over three years, with up to 300 workers employed at the peak of
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In 1990, the railway line was closed from
Middlemarch onwards, which includes the Poolburn Gorge section. The tracks were lifted, and later in 2000, the line was converted to a bike trail, which included re-decking both bridges with timber and re-surfacing the track with fine gravel.
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with hired bikes). Both tunnels feature portals with bolstered schist slab facings, with the arches outlined in brick. The inside walls of the tunnels are lined with brick about 10 m (33 ft) into the tunnels; afterwards the walls are just the bare rock.
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The landscape surrounding
Poolburn Gorge is barren and dry, shaped by the typical Central Otago climate of dry hot summers and cold winters. The gorge cuts through schist rock bluffs, with the vegetation on the steep slopes consisting of
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the tunnel portal, the other to the remnants of a construction worker village. After the rail trail exits the gorge, it offers good views over the
Manuherikia Valley and towards the Hawkdun Range.
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The
Poolburn Gorge section of the Otago Central Railway is the most popular section of this multi-day bike track. The gorge can be traversed by bike as a day trip from
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At the eastern entrance to the gorge, the 37 m (121 ft) tall
Poolburn Viaduct is the highest bridge on the rail line, and is bridge No.69 starting from
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and hardy low-growing shrubs. Contrasting this, a ribbon of lush trees lines the immediate river banks at the bottom of the gorge. The Ida Burn joins the
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and the
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Information contained on an Otago Central Rail Trust information panel at Manuherikia Viaduct
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Information contained on an Otago Central Rail Trust information panel at Poolburn Viaduct
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Information contained on a Department of Conservation information panel at Poolburn Gorge
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View up Poolburn Gorge in spring (Poolburn tunnel No.1 visible on the far right)
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shortly after it emerges from the Poolburn Gorge into the Manuherikia Valley.
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curved bridges on the rail trail, the other being in Hyde.
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173:New Zealand Department of Conservation
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124:Entrance of Poolburn tunnel No.2
175:website. Accessed 2014-02-18.)
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345:Canyons and gorges of Otago
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269:"Poolburn Gorge day trips"
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195:"The Otago Central Line"
169:Otago Central Rail Trail
64:Otago Central Rail Trail
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87:Te Waipapapa o Karetai
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56:Ida Valley
91:Ngāi Tahu
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142:Oturehua
115:Dunedin
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