Opawa River Bridge (Marlborough) Traditional Cache
Opawa River Bridge (Marlborough)
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(other)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
A sort of park and grab, originally placed by Blenheim Bear but adopted and maintained by Kiwimykl from January 2016.
The Opawa River Bridge, Blenheim
I trust you have already enjoyed the Taylor River caches, if not then please take a look. They start with Raupo and work upriver to the dam and beyond..
The Opawa River is the main reason for Blenheim (or Bevertown) to exist. It was navigable in the early years so easy to get goods in and local produce such as flax out. This is hopefully the start of another run of caches going up river…
Being a bridge engineer I get to look after lots and lots of bridges, but this big concrete baby is one of my favourites. I can hopefully show you why, while you find and sign the log....
You might think that this bridge is quite narrow, but consider that it was built for two horse and carts to pass and the loading was designed to take a traction engine plus trailers. Of course with today’s larger vehicles there is a problem in passing, they tend to self-govern and wait at each end for a chance to cross safely.
The bridge was first built in 1869 out of timber but collapsed in 1878, and from then traffic was taken across the river by the nearby narrow railway bridge, by punt, or by fording when water levels were low enough.
Construction proper began in 1915 but because of the War; the bridge was not completed until the end of 1917. It then provided the much needed road link between Blenheim and the settlements to the north.
The Opawa River Bridge was designed at a time of international experimentation in the use of reinforced concrete in such engineering structures, especially by Swiss, French and German engineers. The bowstring arch design in concrete enjoyed a period of popularity in New Zealand through to the 1930s. The bridge is still a strategic part of the South Island State Highway 1.
The Opawa River Bridge was, I believe the first bowstring arch bridges in reinforced concrete to be built in New Zealand. This bridge led the way for the development of concrete bowstring arch bridges in New Zealand, and by the 1930s designs had evolved into graceful and attractive structures, such as the Balclutha and Fairfield Bridges.
This historic place was registered under the Historic Places Act 1980. The bridge is classified as a "Category I" ("places of special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value") historic place by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. In 2010 it won a commendation for the 'Enduring Concrete Award' from the NZ Concrete Society.
And so to the cache, on the downstream side of the bridge is a built on walkway, the cache can be accessed safely from this walkway without acrobatics or walking in the narrow roadway. You are looking for a slim metal Berroca tube about 20mm diameter and 140mm long. Please place back in it’s concealment so that others can enjoy.
FTF goes to durvillegirl, well done
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uryq va cynpr ol na vaivfvoyr sbepr
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures