WALT writing a summary about the bridge in pamunre

Before the bridge

There was a Ferry service and a man called Hemi pepene ran the business from 1845 to about 1850. He was adopted son to a missionary William fairburn .



The First bridge


In the 1850s the Tamaki river was considered to be one of the busiest waterways in New Zealand. 1849, Union Bridge” to link the two villages of Howick and Panmure. suspension bridge £1,000”.


The first panmure bridge was swing bridge.The people pay the money to the William Johnson the toll keeper across the bridge and he gives back the money to the government.The bridge were the longest piles/poles that had ever been used in the province. They used Totara trees to make the bridge. When they made the bridge it sometimes it took hours to open or close, Most cutters, scows and trading vessels were sailing ships that needed great skill to negotiate the small opening with difficult tidal rip s.





The Third bridge


1913 it was obvious that a new bridge would be required. There were Motor vehicles that were displacing horses and a wider bridge was desirable.14th August 1916, Finally he cut the ribbon and drove a heavy traction engine across the new bridge to prove the ability of the structure to take heavy loads.


The fourth bridge


However by 1930 serious faults in the new bridge were reported when a large crack across the full width of the bridge at the southern end was discovered.This bridge was demolished in 1959 after the present bridge was opened.A new bridge was built in 1959. This latter bridge is a three-lane reinforced high-level bridge, with the center lane used for westwards traffic flow in the morning and eastwards in the afternoon.