Click here to return  <<previous | next>>  
 
 

THE WAECKERLE BRIDGES

Two bridges on Rue Lavaud, built in 1879, still the town’s main road traffic over small streams.

Category: Structures and Sites
Date: 1879
Street Address: Rue Lavaud
HPT registered? Yes
District Plan Listed? Yes

Soon after it was established, following the abolition of the Provincial system of government in 1876, the Akaroa Borough Council set about upgrading the town’s streets. Part of the programme of street improvement was the construction of two new bridges where Rue Lavaud crosses two of the small streams that flow down from the hills behind Akaroa and cross the town on their way to the sea.

The bridges have railings of cast-iron which were manufactured at Anderson’s Foundry in Christchurch. The railings are original except for the one of the eastern side of the Grehan Stream bridge which was replaced in 1999 when the bridges were repaired and the railings re-painted. The work was organised by the Akaroa Civic Trust and paid for by the Parkinson Trust.

The Mayor of the Borough of Akaroa at the time the bridges were built was Christian Jacob Waeckerle and his name and the date the bridges were built were cast on the pillars which support the railings.

 

 
   
Click here to return  <<previous | next>>