Conference Paper

Author

Bird, Warren

Title

Restoration of New Zealand's Largest Sawmill Tramway Viaducts

In

Second Australasian Conference on Engineering Heritage, Auckland, 14-16 February, 2000: Proceedings

Imprint

Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, Auckland, New Zealand, 2000, pp. 51-55

ISBN/ISSN

0980960352

Url

https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.909886233628782

Abstract

In 1994 the Southland community restored New Zealand's tallest timber trestle bridge, the 36m high Percy Burn viaduct. This derelict sawmill tramway bridge dating from the 1920's is now part of a popular tramping track. More recently, during 1999, three smaller viaducts nearby were similarly restored. This significant project is even more impressive considering the magnitude of the re-building necessary and the remoteness of the work-site in southern Fiordland, eight hours walk from the nearest road-end. The four timber viaducts are the most visible relics of the indigenous logging and milling operation carried out at Port Craig, once home to New Zealand's largest and most technologically advanced sawmill, and now a ghost town. Although Port Craig lasted only a little over 10 years the steam-powered logging and milling equipment introduced there set the standard for indigenous logging for almost 30 years - equipment which has, like the township, now passed into history. This paper outlines the restoration of the massive timber viaducts together with details of the logging and milling technology that were such a feature of the venture.

Related Published resources

isPartOf

• Second Australasian Conference on Engineering Heritage, Auckland, 14-16 February, 2000: Proceedings edited by Lowe, P. G.; Hill, R .F. (Auckland, New Zealand: Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, 2000), 248 pp, https://search.informit.org/doi/book/10.3316/informit.0980960352. Details