The plastic cocoon highway users will have seen round the Karangahake Gorge rail bridge this week is to protect the river from pollution from lead based paints.
'This bridge is a hundred years old and is starting to deteriorate”, says Department of Conservation Visitor Assets Programme Manager in Tauranga Jeff Milham, 'Corrosion of some of the steel work is the main problem with it. Contractors will be repairing, and then re-painting all the steelwork on the bridge.”


Scaffolding going up on the K gorge bridge

The Karangahake Eastern Portal Bridge is a 36m trussed steel railway bridge that was built around 1905 to take the East Coast Main Trunk line from Auckland. Before it was built, coal used by the Waihi Gold Mining Company was conveyed as far as the double-decked bridge at Karangahake, the western portal bridge, and shovelled into wagons for transport to Waikino and other places. By November 1904 over 200 tons of coal was being transported every day to Karangahake for use at the Waihi, Talisman and Crown Mines.
The bridge served for the next 70 years as part of a crucial link that both stimulated and serviced the growth of economic activity on both sides of the Kaimai range. Passenger train services on the East Coast Branch were terminated in 1959 with the cessation of the ‘Taneatua Express', but a Bay of Plenty-Auckland railcar service continued until 11th September 1967.
The line closed following the opening of the Kaimai tunnel in 1978.
The former Lands and Survey Dept acquired the rail corridor through the gorge and developed the Karangahake Historic Walkway with a few years of the rails being lifted.
The bridge project is part of a much larger effort to develop the Kaimai Heritage Trail which includes historic mining and logging remains in the northern Kaimai area, such as at Karangahake, Waitawheta, Waiorongomai (near Te Aroha) and Wharawhara (near Katikati).
Community Relations Ranger Pete Huggins is working on historic information to be installed at the nearby Victoria Battery site at Waikino.
'All these historic sites are a huge asset to the area”, says Pete. 'Tourists and locals alike really enjoy visiting the historic places in Karangahake Gorge and the rest of the Kaimai heritage area. New Zealand's heritage is unique in so many ways. It's great to be a part of such an interesting, beautiful place”.
DOC is working to make this part of New Zealand the best place to learn about New Zealand's industrial heritage while enjoying the Kaimai Mamaku Forest Park.