Waiteti viaduct
Waiteti Viaduct in 2015
Coordinates38°21′38″S 175°11′17″E / 38.360509°S 175.188137°E / -38.360509; 175.188137
CarriesSingle track of the North Island Main Trunk
CrossesWaiteti Stream
OwnerKiwiRail
Characteristics
DesignPlate girder and Pratt truss
MaterialWrought iron
Total length128.6 metres (422 ft)
Height35 metres (115 ft)
No. of spans4
History
Engineering design byPublic Works Department
Constructed byJ. & A. Anderson & Co
Construction start1888
Construction end10 July 1889
Designated15 February 1990
Reference no.4175
Location

The Waiteti Viaduct (Bridge 179),[1] 3 km (1.9 mi) south of Te Kuiti[2] and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) north of the station site,[3] was opened in 1889. It is the most northerly of the major viaducts on the NIMT. At its highest, the railway is 35 m (115 ft) above the road to Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve and the Waiteti Stream,[4] a tributary of the Mangaokewa Stream, which flows into the Waipā.[2]

Te Araroa walk track runs through the Mangaokewa valley, near the viaduct.[5] The nearby 200 ha (490 acres) Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve is mainly podocarp/tawa forest with nīkau groves.[6]

The 154 acres (62 ha) for the Waiteti section of the railway was acquired under the Public Works Act in 1888, apparently without payment.[7]

Design and construction

Designed by the Public Works Department, Waiteti Viaduct was built by Christchurch firm, J. & A. Anderson & Co, from 1887 to 1889. As the NIMT was extended south, the same firm later built the Makatote, Mangaturuturu, and Manganui-o-te-ao viaducts.[8]

Waiteti Viaduct was completed in 1888,[9] tested for loading in March[10] and opened in May 1889.[11] It used four lattice girders[4] of 32.4 m (106 ft),[12] totalling 130 metres (425 feet), supported on three lattice piers held in mass concrete abutments and foundations. The wrought iron parts were made in a foundry set up by Anderson in Te Kuiti, then riveted on site. The track and footway were on a rolled iron transom.[4]

It was given Category 1 listing by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1990.[4]

Waiteti Stream and Mangaokewa Gorge and Scenic Reserve from Waiteti Viaduct in 2018

Maintenance and upgrades

By 1913 trains and locomotives had increased in weight and the viaducts restricted use of Class X locos.[13] So a strengthening scheme proposed to halve each span by adding supports. A concrete pier was to be added at each end, with steel rocking piers supporting the central spans. The concrete piers had reached about 60 ft (18 m) , when war put an end to the work, which didn't resume until 1926. The concrete piers were then completed, but rather than the rocking piers, the central spans were strengthened with iron from either end and the end spans replaced with 53 ft (16 m) plate girders. They arrived in parts at Te Kuiti, where an Ingersoll-Rand air plant machine was used to rivet the 19.5 ton girders. A detailed account of the work was given in the Railways Magazine in 1927.[12]

Further strengthening and maintenance was done between 1950 and 1959, 1970 and 1979[4] in 1983, when the viaduct was painted with red lead primer[14] and in 2017–2018, which included walkway repairs, strengthening of kingposts, replacement of corbels and water blasting.[15]

Waiteti Viaduct, Te Kuiti, in 1917. ATLIB 284366

References

  1. ↑ "North Island Main Trunk – Over 100 Years of Engineering" (PDF). Kiwirail. 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Waiteti Viaduct". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  3. ↑ "Survey Number: SN3615 Run C Photo 1". Retrolens. 9 February 1973.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Waiteti Viaduct". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "Te Kuiti to Pureora". www.walkingaccess.govt.nz. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  6. ↑ "Waikato Biodiversity Forum : Community Group Feature: Project Manu". www.waikatobiodiversity.org.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "RAILWAYS AND HAPU /IWI OF THE TE ROHE POTAE INQUIRY DISTRICT 1880–2008" (PDF). November 2008.
  8. ↑ "North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Historic Area". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Latest telegrams". Thames Advertiser. Vol. XX, no. 6266. 29 November 1888. p. 2. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "GREY RIVER ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 March 1889. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  11. ↑ "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. NEW ZEALAND TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 July 1890. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  12. 1 2 "Strengthening of Waiteti Viaduct. — (W. E. Puddy, A. M. Inst. C. E.)". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  13. ↑ "RAILWAY WORKS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 September 1914. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "Extending the life of a historic railway bridge" (PDF). OPUS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "New life for 129-year-old old rail bridge on NZ's main trunk line". Stuff. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
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