Central pier for Ngatimoti's Peninsula Bridge under construction in 1911.
The Motueka River has always been a force to be reckoned with, and crossing it a precarious business. For Ngatimoti’s early European settlers, who took up farming on both sides of the river, getting a proper cart bridge established between the east and west banks was a major concern.
A petition for such a bridge was signed in 1880 and presented to the local authorities. A plan was drawn up for a bridge at the Peninsula site, but shelved. Instead a compromise footbridge was built in 1894 at Pokororo, near the confluence of the Graham River. Another bridge was erected at the Alexander Bluff in 1909, linking Pangatotara with the Rocky River/Shaggery area, but a road along the west bank connecting it to the Graham and Pearse Valleys would remain a work in progress for several more years.
Agitation from Ngatimoti residents continued. Finally, in March 1911, after a lengthy process of getting plans approved for a light traffic bridge and loans raised, the Peninsula Bridge build got under way. It was designed to have two spans, with a solid central pier in the river, but after work started on this pier, Mother Nature had other ideas. On the night of September 18, 1911, heavy rain fell in the Motueka district, resulting in a flood almost rivalling the legendary benchmark “Old Man Flood” of 1877. Several labourers working on the bridge build were rudely awakened during the night as the river rose and swamped their nearby camp on the riverbank, causing a hasty scramble in the dark up to higher ground - luckily all made it to safety.
Amongst the collateral damage of swamped homes, wrecked crops and drowned sheep was the central pier of the Peninsula Bridge. From her home on the east bank of the river opposite Greenhill Road, Kate Waghorn, wife of the bridge build’s foreman Frank Waghorn, watched in shock as the pier collapsed, irreparably damaged, under the pressure of the raging floodwaters. Ngatimoti identity Les Waghorn (Frank & Kate Waghorn’s youngest son) recalled that the central pier could still be seen from the river bank when he was a boy and that he and his friends were able to swim out and stand upon it. Over the years since then it has sunk a little further below the surface but has remained both an intriguing lurking presence and hazard to be avoided for the generations of Ngatimoti kids who've dared each other to jump from the Peninsula Bridge into the river below.
Post flood a rapid rethink was in order and a revised plan was drawn up early in 1912 for a single span suspension bridge designed to take a load of 10 tonnes and incorporating the already completed piers at either end. This new plan was adopted and building resumed, with the bridge being opened to great celebration on Saturday, July 7 1913, by the Hon. Roderick McKenzie, M.P. for Motueka. “Saturday was a great day in the history of Ngatimoti and the settlers did full justice to the occasion,” reported the “Nelson Evening Mail” on the day, noting that 27 years had gone by since the original Peninsula Bridge committee had been formed with the aim of getting it built. The ceremonial ribbon was cut by Mrs Anne Brereton, the oldest living West Bank resident, and her son Cyprian Brereton gave a speech, being roundly cheered by the crowd present when he declared in conclusion that the opening of the bridge was “more important to those living on the west side of the river than the opening of the Panama Canal”.
The Ngatimoti community came out in force again for a more recent celebration, held at the Peninsula Bridge on Saturday 6 July 2013 to mark the 100th anniversary of that original opening.
In 1936 the Peninsula Bridge underwent a major overhaul. The wooden superstructure was replaced with concrete and the bridge decking, guard rails and sides rebuilt. Strengthening of the western pier was carried out in 2006, and for those who eye the bridge a tad nervously while crossing, reassurance that it is subject to constant ongoing maintenance work, including the use of a very large spanner to tighten the wire cables!
The comprehensive “Nelson Evening Mail” account of the 1913 opening of the Peninsula Bridge (link below) provides the bridge’s statistics at the end, for those interested in the details.
References
Opened by Hon. R. McKenzie
Nelson Evening Mail, 7 July 1913, 1913, pg 5
See also
"Nelson Evening Mail", 19 Sept 1911, pg 6
Details the events around the collapse of the central pier at Ngatimoti's Peninsula Bridge.
Acknowledgement
Photograph courtesy of Ngatimoti historian Mr Edward Stevens.
Note that of the labourers shown in the above photo, Thomas Hovenden, pictured standing on the pier structure at top left, is the only one who has been identified to date.
No comments:
Post a Comment