Topic: Mangaoraka Stream Bridge, Egmont Village (1911)
Topic type:
2019 View: By Hamish Crimp
This single-lane reinforced concrete bridge was erected during 1911 for the Taranaki County Council on the main road south between New Plymouth and Inglewood.
Tenders for construction of the bridge were initially advertised during January 1911 by engineers Orbell & Mackay, however, as only one tender, being very much in excess of the engineer's estimate, was received, it was decided to call for fresh tenders the following month.
The bridge appears complete by late-August 1911, with County Council Foreman Chelling reporting at the September 1911 County Council meeting that he had, with the permission of Orbell, opened the new Mangaoraka Bridge to traffic. The old timber bridge, located adjacent, was subsequently dismantled.
This bridge was decommisioned during the 1970s-80s? following the completion of the present two-lane SH3 bridge.
See: Taranaki Herald, 23 January 1911, page 6; Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1911, page 1; Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1911, page 3