{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox bridge |bridge_name=Waiteti viaduct |image=File:NZR 130 m long 35m high Waiteti railway Viaduct built 1889.jpg |caption=Waiteti Viaduct in 2015 |coordinates={{Coord|-38.360509|175.188137|type:landmark_region:NZ|display=inline,title}} |carries=Single track of the [[North Island Main Trunk]] |crosses=Waiteti Stream |locale= |official_name= |owner=[[KiwiRail]] |design=[[Plate girder bridge|Plate girder]] and [[Truss bridge#Pratt truss|Pratt truss]] |material=[[Wrought iron]] |length={{convert|128.6|m|ft}} |width= |height={{convert|35|m|ft}} |mainspan= |spans=4 |piers_in_water= |load= |clearance= |below= |engineering=[[Ministry of Works and Development|Public Works Department]] |builder=[[John Anderson (mayor)#Professional life|J. & A. Anderson & Co]] |begin=1888 |complete=10 July 1889 |open= |extra={{designation list |embed=yes |designation1=NZ Category I |designation1_number=[https://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/4175 4175] |designation1_date=15 February 1990}} }} The '''Waiteti Viaduct''' (Bridge 179),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/CORE%202010%20-%20NIMT.pdf|title=North Island Main Trunk – Over 100 Years of Engineering|date=2010|publisher=Kiwirail}}</ref> {{Convert|3|km||abbr=on}} south of Te Kuiti<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap?v=2&ll=-38.37717,175.169095&z=14|title=Waiteti Viaduct|website=NZ Topo Map|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> and {{Convert|2.5|km||abbr=on}} north of the station site,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://files.interpret.co.nz/Retrolens/Imagery/SN3615/Crown_3615_C_1/High.jpg|title=Survey Number: SN3615 Run C Photo 1|date=9 Feb 1973|website=Retrolens}}</ref> was opened in 1889. It is the most northerly of the major viaducts on the NIMT. At its highest, the railway is {{Convert|35|m||abbr=on}} above the road to Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve and the Waiteti Stream,<ref name=":9" /> a tributary of the Mangaokewa Stream, which flows into the [[Waipā River#Pollution|Waipā]].<ref name=":2" />
[[Te Araroa]] walk track runs through the Mangaokewa valley, near the viaduct.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.walkingaccess.govt.nz/track/te-kuiti-to-pureora|title=Te Kuiti to Pureora|website=www.walkingaccess.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> The nearby {{Convert|200|ha||abbr=on}} Mangaokewa Scenic Reserve is mainly [[Podocarpus|podocarp]]/[[Beilschmiedia tawa|tawa]] forest with [[nīkau]] groves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.waikatobiodiversity.org.nz/31/features/community_group_feature_project/|title=Waikato Biodiversity Forum : Community Group Feature: Project Manu|website=www.waikatobiodiversity.org.nz|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref>
The {{Convert|154|acre||abbr=on}} for the Waiteti section of the railway was acquired under the [[Public Works Act#New Zealand|Public Works Act]] in 1888, apparently without payment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_790463/Wai%20898%2C%20A013.pdf|title=RAILWAYS AND HAPU /IWI OF THE TE ROHE POTAE INQUIRY DISTRICT 1880–2008|date=Nov 2008}}</ref>
== Design and construction ==
Designed by the [[New Zealand Ministry of Works|Public Works Department]], Waiteti Viaduct was built by [[Christchurch]] firm, [[John Anderson (mayor)|J. & A. Anderson & Co]], from 1887 to 1889. As the NIMT was extended south, the same firm later built the [[Makatote Viaduct|Makatote]], [[Pokaka railway station#Mangaturuturu Viaduct|Mangaturuturu]], and [[Pokaka railway station#Manganui o te Ao Viaduct|Manganui-o-te-ao]] viaducts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/7793|title=North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Historic Area|website=www.heritage.org.nz|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref>
Waiteti Viaduct was completed in 1888,<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18881129.2.11 |title=Latest telegrams |date=29 November 1888 |work=Thames Advertiser |volume=XX | issue=6266 | page=2 |access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> tested for loading in March<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GRA18890306.2.11 |title=GREY RIVER ARGUS|date=6 March 1889|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> and opened in May 1889.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18900726.2.19 |title=PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. NEW ZEALAND TIMES|date=26 July 1890|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-02-01}}</ref> It used four [[lattice girder]]s<ref name=":9" /> of {{Convert|32.4|m||abbr=on}},<ref name=":1" /> totalling 130 metres (425 feet), supported on three lattice piers held in mass concrete abutments and foundations. The wrought iron parts were made in a foundry set up by Anderson in Te Kuiti, then riveted on site. The track and footway were on a rolled iron transom.<ref name=":9" />
It was given Category 1 listing by the [[Heritage New Zealand|New Zealand Historic Places Trust]] in 1990.<ref name=":9" /> [[File:Waiteti_Stream_and_Mangaokewa_Gorge_from_Waiteti_Viaduct.jpg|thumb|Waiteti Stream and Mangaokewa Gorge and Scenic Reserve from Waiteti Viaduct in 2018]]
== Maintenance and upgrades ==
By 1913 trains and locomotives had increased in weight and the viaducts restricted use of [[NZR X class|Class X]] locos.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19140904.2.11|title=RAILWAY WORKS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD|date=4 Sep 1914|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-02-05}}</ref> So a strengthening scheme proposed to halve each span by adding supports. A concrete pier was to be added at each end, with steel [[wiktionary:rocking pier|rocking piers]] supporting the central spans. The concrete piers had reached about {{Convert|60|ft||abbr=on}} , when [[World War I|war]] put an end to the work, which did not resume until 1926. The concrete piers were then completed, but rather than the rocking piers, the central spans were strengthened with iron from either end and the end spans replaced with {{Convert|53|ft||abbr=on}} [[Plate girder bridge|plate girders]]. They arrived in parts at Te Kuiti, where an [[Ingersoll Rand|Ingersoll-Rand]] [[Rivet gun|air plant machine]] was used to rivet the 19.5 ton girders. A detailed account of the work was given in the Railways Magazine in 1927.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov02_05Rail-t1-body-d4.html|title=Strengthening of Waiteti Viaduct. — (W. E. Puddy, A. M. Inst. C. E.)|website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>
Further strengthening and maintenance was done between 1950 and 1959, 1970 and 1979<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/4175|title=Waiteti Viaduct|website=www.heritage.org.nz|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> in 1983, when the viaduct was painted with red [[Lead paint|lead]] primer<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wsp-opus.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Project-Summary/ProjSum-NZ-Waiteti-Viaduct-Railway-Bridge-160217.pdf|title=Extending the life of a historic railway bridge|website=OPUS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203053123/https://wsp-opus.co.nz/assets/Uploads/Project-Summary/ProjSum-NZ-Waiteti-Viaduct-Railway-Bridge-160217.pdf|archive-date=2019-02-03}}</ref> and in 2017–2018, which included walkway repairs, strengthening of [[King post#King post truss|kingposts]], replacement of [[corbel]]s and water blasting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/108196608/new-life-for-129yearold-old-rail-bridge-on-nzs-main-trunk-line|title=New life for 129-year-old old rail bridge on NZ's main trunk line|website=Stuff|date=11 November 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref> [[File:Waiteti_Viaduct,_Te_Kuiti,_in_1917._ATLIB_284366.png|thumb|Waiteti Viaduct, Te Kuiti, in 1917. ATLIB 284366]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries – [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%224-1079%22 1889], [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%224-1078%22 c.1890], [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/170709 1898], [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/172062 1902], [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/172063 1902 track], [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/387634 1954 passenger train], [https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/387635 1954 mixed train] * [http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/Gov02_05Rail-fig-Gov02_05Rail011a.html New Zealand Railways Magazine 1927]
[[Category:Te Kūiti]] [[Category:Rail transport in Waikato]] [[Category:Railway bridges in New Zealand]] [[Category:Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Waikato]] [[Category:Bridges in Waikato]] [[Category:Viaducts in New Zealand]]