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The Gisborne Photo News

 
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No 103 : January 24, 1963

12

A Milestone In Roading Communications
Official Opening of Waioeka Scenic Highway

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The scene at Wairata, of the opening ceremony, which was held on the bluff at centre left of the picture.

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A milestone in East Coast roading communications was reached late last year with the official opening of the reconstructed Waioeka Gorge road......recently renamed the Waioeka Scenic Highway......by the Minister of Works, Mr W. S. Goosman.

The ceremony, which included the unveiling of a plaque set in a slab of rock, was held in light rain, and was attended by a crowd of about 400.

The occasion marked the end of one of the most rugged road reconstruction jobs done in New Zealand.....that of carving a full-width highway through the 25 miles of unstable, near-vertical gorge which follows the tortuous path of the Waioeka River.

It also marked the completion of more than 12 years arduous labour, and the expenditure of £1,250,000. In places the highway is reputed to have cost £2 an inch.

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Members of the public shelter under umbrellas as they, and the official party, stand in silence in remembrance of the three men who lost their lives while engaged on the reconstruction job.

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Listening quietly from their modest position at the rear of the crowd is a group of the construction gang

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Mr D. O. Haskell, who has been Commissioner of Works throughout the reconstruction job, speaking at the ceremony.

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Mr P. G. Allen, M.P., speaking on behalf of the Bay of Plenty

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Resident engineer, Mr H. B. Goodman, introducing the speakers

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Small boy shelters from the rain inside his elder brother's raincoat while listening to the official speeches.

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Members of the crowd watch the ceremony from the shelter of umbrellas and raincoats

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Mr Goosman unveiling the plaque, which marks the completion of the gorge reconstruction, and commemorates the men who lost their lives on the job

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Mr P. Delamere, the head of the Ringatu Church, blessing the plaque, while friends and relations of the dead men mourn in the background

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Following the blessing of the plaque, relatives and friends mourned the three men who were killed. Wreaths and a picture of one of the men were laid at the base of the rock holding the plaque.

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A view of the opening ceremony from the Opotiki end

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A picnic area and a swimming hole immediately below the site of the plaque provide travellers with an ideal mid-gorge stopping place

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© 2012 H B Williams Memorial Library
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