Centennial Highway Construction

Workmen carving back the tunnel hill nearest to Paekākāriki to make way for Centennial Highway. Bottom right is a generator to run the vibrator power picks, a new piece of equipment to the district in 1937. At the top right the train track through to the tunnel can be seen. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.

Why the Road was Built

Surveying the coast. Photo Des Capewell Collection.

During the early 1930s road traffic was increasing annually at a rate of 10% to 15%. That and the difficult conditions motorists encountered on the Paekākāriki Hill Road prompted the formation of the Plimmerton-Paekākāriki Main Highways Deviation Association with the group picking up the cause from W H Field, Member of Parliament for Otaki, who had tried over a number of years  to have a new road built. In 1935 the United Reform Coalition Government approved funding to survey the route between Plimmerton and Paekākāriki. But it was left to the first Labour Government, elected in late 1935, to ensure the project went ahead.

In August 1936, the Government allocated £200,000 to build the road between Plimmerton and Paekākāriki, £3,762 for construction of the Pukerua Bay railway overbridge and £7,901 for the Paekākāriki railway overbridge. The Government also allocated funding for the duplication of the railway lines between Plimmerton and Paekākāriki. Construction started on the road in September 1936 and was carried out by the Public Works Department with Harry Hume as the Engineer in Charge of the highway project. Contracts for building the overbridges at Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki were awarded respectively to A. Cox and F. A. King.

Viceregal party leaving their cars to examine the newly constructed northern coastal highway at the point where it descends from Pukerua Bay. Evening Post, 10 December 1937.

Working Conditions

The project used the best machinery available at the time. This included a bulldozer, a steam shovel and a concrete plant.

However, the majority of work was undertaken by men using trolleys and wheelbarrows, with trucking contractors from the district helping move larger amounts of fill. Despite the difficult conditions, there was only one death reported on the construction projects. On 9 February 1939, Michael Borisoff a 50 year old labourer was injured by a crowbar piercing his left thigh when he fell while working on the edge of a bank at Pukerua Bay. He was taken to Wellington hospital by Wellington Free Ambulance but died from his injuries three days later. Borisoff had served in the 51st Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces on the Western Front during WW1 where he was wounded in the leg, arm and shoulder. See Michael Borisoff

Significance of the Route

Steam shovel and bulldozer working on the highway in Pukerua Bay. Parts of sections were lost while some houses were demolished and others moved. Photo Des Capewell Collection.

The coastal section of the highway follows a route that had been used for centuries by Māori and later by early European travellers. When Haunui-a-Nanaia, who according to legend was in pursuit of his wife Wairaka, reached the end of the sandy beach at Paekākāriki, he followed the coast and came to a barrier of rock. He forced a passage by means of his powers of magic, forming Te Ana o Hau or the Cave of Hau. In 1840 Jerningham Wakefield wrote: “At one point we passed through a natural arch in a spur of rock which jutted into the sea. I had to get on Te Puke’s shoulders; and he seized a favourable time to run through the passage as the surf occasionally rolled breast high right into it.” In June 1846 when the four Bevan children, who had been hosted by Ngāti Toa at Waimapihi Pa, passed through the cave their experience was less dramatic. However, traversing the route was no easy feat as Thomas Bevan describes in his 1907 reminiscences. “Clambering down by the rocky cliffs to the sea beach, we wended our way slowly along the rough boulders and stony beach which lie beneath the great precipice of Te Paripari. It was very difficult travelling, and we made but little progress. Ropina, carrying my younger brother, had often to return to assist us over bad places, so that it was past noon when we reached the singular cave or hollow rock which is situated at Te Paripari, the abrupt ending of the Paekākāriki range.” The cave had collapsed before the highway was built but some remnants can be seen near the far end of the stepped seawall to the right of the memorial cairn.

Challenges Faced in Construction

Beth and Murray Lindsay near Lindsay’s original store during early stages of Centennial Highway construction. Photo Coveney Albums, Pātaka Art + Museum.

Construction of the road involved significant engineering challenges. The road from Plimmerton to where the highway met up with Airlie Road, crossed Taupō Swamp at several points.

The longest section of 800 metres, northwards from near St Theresa’s Church; involved digging out the swamp to reach solid ground at depths of three to five metres, then backfilling with rocks. Shorter swamp sections further north needed digging out to depths of up to ten metres before backfilling with rocks. The North Island Main Trunk Railway and the narrow foreshore along the route required constructing the sea walls below the high-water mark so that the finished carriageway would meet the standard for the highway.

Several designs for the seawalls, to prevent the roadway from being inundated with seawater during northerly storms, were tested in a water tank. The design settled on was stepped outwards to deflect the waves away from the roadway. Examples can be seen to the left of the He Ara panels commemorating the construction of Centennial Highway and north of the parking area where the cairn and memorial plaque commemorating the opening of the coastal highway is located.

Work on the road alongside Taupō Swamp. Photo Pātaka Art + Museum.

Workers Accommodation

The majority of the workers employed on the highway’s construction lived in the Public Works Camp located at Taua Tapu. This camp also housed men employed on the duplication of the railway line from Plimmerton to Paekākāriki: a total of 350 single and married men.

A He Ara Pukerua plaque located on the Ara Harakeke shared pathway at Whenua Tapu overlooks the site. A number of the married men, with their families, employed on the projects moved into rented accommodation in Pukerua Bay. Some of those houses were destined for demolition as work on the highway progressed. The workers’ children attended Pukerua Bay School. Some men employed on the coastal section of the project travelled from as far north as Otaki.

The camp south of Pukerua Bay, where men engaged in the construction of the new road between Plimmerton and Paekākāriki have their quarters. Photo Alexander Turnbull Library.

The Opening

On Saturday 4 November 1939, with the project completed about one year ahead of the estimated time for construction and under the estimated cost, the Minister of Public Works the Hon R (Bob) Semple, with his wife Margaret, officially opened the Plimmerton to Paekākāriki section of Centennial Highway.

The ceremony followed the earlier opening of the Ngauranga Gorge section. Both sections of road formed part of the Public Works Department’s projects undertaken to improve road access between Paekākāriki and Wellington. Two further sections, Johnsonville to Takapu Road (opened December 1950) and Takapu Road to Porirua (opened 1956) completed construction of Centennial Highway. The route from Plimmerton to Paekākāriki replaced the Paekākāriki Hill Road. The hill road was originally built following skirmishes in the Hutt Valley. The military built a narrow road around the shores of Pauatahanui Inlet, through the Pauatahanui township and up the Horokiri Valley to Paekākāriki. The route was completed in November 1849. There had been calls for better road access between Wellington and the north as early as 1919. The Member of Parliament for the Otaki Electorate, W.H. Field, had consulted an engineer and was advised that it was possible to build a road across the swamp near Plimmerton and along the coast from Pukerua Bay to Paekākāriki. His attempts to persuade successive governments to build the road were fruitless.

Minister of Public Works the Hon R (Bob) Semple and his wife Margaret officially opened the Plimmerton to Paekākāriki section of Centennial Highway on 6 November 1939 almost one year ahead of schedule. Photo Des Capewell Collection.

The Effect on Pukerua Bay

The route taken by the highway through Pukerua Bay altered the village with lasting effects. Charles Gray, a member of the Plimmerton-Paekākāriki Deviation Association made representations to W. H. Field to ensure the road would pass Gray’s front gate. The first tennis court and club rooms near Toenga Road were removed to make way for the highway. The immediate effect was loss of the social hub of the village. Movement around Pukerua Bay became difficult with the highway, becoming a barrier, as traffic increased and subdivisions sprang up, especially those east of the railway line.

By Paul FitzGerald

Detail of the specially designed Centennial Highway seawall which reflects powerful waves off the coastal road. 1939. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


Pukerua Bay in the background early in the construction of Centennial Highway, 1938. Note the concrete mixers at centre back of photograph and steam digger on the right. Also beach houses, rented by workers, which were later demolished as the roadway was formed. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


Inspection, by bosses Harry Grant and Mr Robinson, of progress on the sea wall construction between Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay. Photograph taken in 1938 shows the need for constant drainage to enable the men to work in relatively dry surroundings. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


Workmen carving back the tunnel hill nearest to Paekākāriki to make way for Centennial Highway. Bottom right is a generator to run the vibrator power picks, a new piece of equipment to the district in 1937. At the top right the train track through to the tunnel can be seen. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


Truck belonging to George Flighty of Pāuatahanui carrying sandbags. Photo Des Capewell Collection.


Construction workers taking a break. Note the floodlights implying some work was at night. Railway tunnel is visible beyond the steam shovel. Photo Des Capewell Collection.


“Semple ladder” made from wheelbarrows and named after the Minister of Public Works the Hon R (Bob) Semple. Photo Des Capewell Collection


Group of Centennial Highway workers. Not a high viz vest in sight. Photo Des Capewell Collection.


Seawall construction just north of Pukerua Bay. Holiday cottages in the background were used as accommodation for workers and later moved or demolished. Photo Des Capewell Collection.


Workmen in the foreground fill and place sand bags while in the background a trolley with cement is pushed along temporary rails. Photo Gosling Collection.


Hazardous conditions for Centennial Highway construction workers. Photo Gosling Collection.


Concrete mixer which was, at one time, operated by Jim Beattie, who helped build the Centennial Highway in 1939. Before the highway had machinery on the works, the road was built by hand. This particular mixer was nicknamed ‘Winget’. The man leaning against the mixer, first on the left, is Reggie Fielding, first on right is George Harrison. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


The jack hammer used by Wally Rzepecky weighed 80 lbs and was of the type first used in New Zealand. Photograph taken near Pukerua Bay in 1939. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti Coast District Libraries.


Mr. H. L. Hume (Engineer in Charge) being farewelled by the Minister of Transport (the Hon. R. Semple) on 31 May 1939. Hume had been awarded a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to study at Berkeley, California. Photo Jim Beattie Collection, Kāpiti District Libraries.

Centennial Highway statistics

References


Centennial Highway statistics.