The historic Tauranga Bridge

We had a good drive back to the Karangahake Gorge on the way stopping to look at this bridge. We hear very little about the struggles of the settlers in the early part of 20th C and this morning when talking about the plight of soldiers returning here after the Great War many were offered such land as written about below:

The historic Tauranga Bridge is the only surviving harp suspension bridge left in New Zealand. It was built in 1922 by the Public Works Department to provide access to sheep farms up the Tauranga Valley.

Farming in the Tauranga Valley
The valley was subdivided in 1906 and settled under a government scheme to create farms from unproductive forest land. The rugged landscape proved unsuitable for farming and the settlers struggled with the difficult conditions.

In 1918 a flood swept away the original suspension bridge across the Waioeka River. A temporary crossing was used until 1922 when the Public Works Department built the present bridge.

Ultimately the farms failed and from the late 1920s farmers began to abandon their properties with little to show for their efforts. By the early 1970s the Crown once again owned all the blocks. Today the area forms the Waioeka Gorge Scenic Reserve.

Protected as a 'historic place'
The bridge is of national significance for its engineering design and appearance. Heritage New Zealand has registered it as a Category I Historic Place.

From a tower at one end, each suspension cable passes under a different bridge crosspiece, before rising to the tower at the other end. This creates an unusual and attractive 'harp-like' pattern, hence the term harp suspension bridge.

Today
The bridge survives as a monument to early farming in the Waioeka area, when the Waioeka Gorge was remote and inaccessible, and covered mostly in bush.