Balclutha Road Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 46°14′09″S169°44′42″E / 46.2359°S 169.745°E |
Carries | Motor vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists |
Crosses | Clutha River |
Locale | Balclutha, Otago, New Zealand |
Maintained by | NZ Transport Agency |
Characteristics | |
Total length | 244.1 metres (801 ft) |
History | |
Construction start | 1933 |
Construction end | 1935 |
Designated | 13-Dec-1990 |
Reference no. | 5180 |
Location | |
The Balclutha Road Bridge, which spans the Clutha River in Balclutha, South Otago, New Zealand, is one of the best-known road bridges in New Zealand's South Island. The bridge is often simply known as "The Clutha Bridge", despite the fact that there are numerous bridges across the country's second longest river.
Built between 1933 and 1935, this bowstring bridge was designed by W. L. Newnham to be earthquake and flood resistant, thereby safeguarding it against the two most common natural disasters to occur in southern New Zealand.
The bridge is built from reinforced concrete, with six parabolic curved spans, each of 36.6 metres in length, and a total bridge length of 244.1 metres. A carriageway of 6.7 metres width is flanked on either side by a footpath of 1.4 metres; its total width is 11.8 metres. The bridge carries the South Island's principal highway, State Highway 1 on its route between Dunedin and Invercargill.
The bridge is the third road bridge to stand at or close to this spot. The first, constructed in 1868, was destroyed in massive floods ten years later when a bridge situated upstream at Beaumont was swept downriver and collided with it. A second bridge was constructed in 1881, but was unsuitable for the needs of motorised transport and was eventually replaced by the current structure.
On 13 December 1990 the Balclutha Road Bridge was classified as a Category I Historic Place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. [1]
Another bridge, the Balclutha Rail Bridge, stands several hundred metres downstream.
Balclutha is a town in South Otago, lying towards the end of the Clutha River, on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about halfway between Dunedin and Gore on the Main South Line railway, State Highway 1 and the Southern Scenic Route. Balclutha has a population of 4,430, and is the largest town in South Otago.
The Clutha River is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast 338 kilometres (210 mi) through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south west of Dunedin. Gold is in abundance in the Clutha River and its surounding areas. It is the highest volume river in New Zealand, and a discharging mean flow of 614 cubic metres per second (21,700 cu ft/s).
The Kawarau River is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. It drains Lake Wakatipu in northwestern Otago via the lake's Frankton Arm. The river flows generally eastwards for about 60 kilometres (37 mi) and passes through the steep Kawarau Gorge until it joins Lake Dunstan near Cromwell. Before the construction of the Clyde High Dam, the Kawarau joined the Clutha River / Mata-Au in a spectacular confluence at Cromwell. The Shotover River enters the Kawarau from the north; the Nevis River enters it from the south. With many rapids and strong currents, the river can be dangerous and has claimed many lives. It is popular for bungy jumping and kayaking.
The Tuapeka River is a river located in Otago in the South Island of New Zealand. It is a tributary of the Clutha River, which it joins at Tuapeka Mouth between Roxburgh and Balclutha.
The Cromwell Gorge is a steep gorge cut by the former Clutha River in the Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It winds 19 km (12 mi) between the Dunstan and Cairnmuir Mountains, linking the townships of Cromwell and Clyde. It is one of three substantial river gorges in Central Otago, the others being the Kawarau Gorge to the west of Cromwell, and the Roxburgh Gorge south of Alexandra.
Inch Clutha is a large, flat island sitting in the delta between the Matau (northern) and Koau (southern) branches of the Clutha River, downstream from the town of Balclutha in the South Island of New Zealand. Approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) long and 3 kilometres (2 mi) wide, the fertile but flood-prone land of the island is extensively farmed. The island was formed in 1878 after a massive flood changed the course of the Clutha, which had formerly reached the ocean 4 km to the south at Port Molyneux.
The Pomahaka River is in South Otago in New Zealand's South Island. It is a tributary of the Clutha River, flowing south for 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the Old Man Range / Kopuwai mountains to join the Clutha about 15 km west of Balclutha. Along its path it passes the Blue Mountains and the forestry town of Tapanui in the area known locally as West Otago.
Beaumont is a small town in inland Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the Clutha River / Mata-Au six kilometres southeast of Raes Junction, between Roxburgh and Balclutha. Beaumont is connected to Milton and Roxburgh by State Highway 8.
The Burdekin Bridge spans the Burdekin River between the towns of Ayr to the north and Home Hill to the south, both in the Shire of Burdekin, Queensland, Australia. Located on the Bruce Highway which is part of Highway 1, it is an important link in the national road network. It is a road-rail bridge which provides high flood immunity link between north and south Queensland.
The Ōwaka River, until 2019 officially the Owaka River, flows southeastward through The Catlins, an area of the southern South Island of New Zealand. Its total length is 30 kilometres (19 mi), and it shares the estuary of the Catlins River, flowing into the Pacific Ocean at Pounawea, 28 kilometres (17 mi) south of Balclutha. Its source is on the slopes of Mount Rosebery, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Clinton. The Ōwaka River is located within the Clutha District.
Tahora, later also known as Parae, is a locality in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island, about one kilometre north of Owaka located at the Ōwaka River. Previously on a railway line, Tahora was a request stop. Today, there is little trace of the settlement and only parts of the railway formation remains visible.
Finegand is a locality in the South Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.
Otanomomo is a locality in the South Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated on the banks of the Koau Branch of the Clutha River, roughly six kilometres south of Balclutha. Nearby settlements include Finegand to the north, Paretai, Puerua, and Romahapa to the south, and Waitepeka to the west.
State Highway 8 is one of New Zealand's eight national highways. It forms an anticlockwise loop through the southern scenic regions of the Mackenzie Basin and Central Otago, starting and terminating in junctions with State Highway 1. Distances are measured from north to south.
The Kawarau Gorge is a major river gorge created by the Kawarau River in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. The towns of Queenstown and Cromwell are linked by State Highway 6 through the gorge.
Waiwera South is a small settlement in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions. The settlement is located between Balclutha and Clinton, immediately to the south of State Highway 1, between branches of the Waiwera River and Kaihiku Stream, two minor tributaries of the Clutha River. The South Island Main Trunk railway also runs through the township. The settlement's population is around 100.
State Highway 91 (SH 91) was part of the New Zealand state highway network before briefly becoming part of SH 92 in 1990–91. It ran for 13 kilometres through South Otago in the southern South Island. SH 92 itself had its status revoked a year later.
Morpeth Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge over the Hunter River at Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Percy Allan and built from 1896 to 1898 by Samuel McGill. It is also known as Morpeth Bridge over the Hunter River. The property is owned by Transport for NSW.
Port Molyneux is a tiny settlement on the coast of South Otago, New Zealand, close to the north-easternmost point of The Catlins. Now home only to farmland, it was a thriving port in the early years of New Zealand's European settlement.
The Koau and Matau Rivers, also called the Koau and Matau Branches, are the two distributaries of New Zealand's Clutha River. The two distributaries split immediately to the southeast of the town of Balclutha, at which point the more northerly branch becomes the Matau and the more southerly becomes the Koau. The two branches both flow generally southeast to reach the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the island of Inch Clutha. A small silty channel connects the two rivers close to their mouths, creating a smaller unnamed island to the south of Inch Clutha.