Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Pedestrian Swing Bridge Across the Whangaehu River, Te Araroa Trail
- Author
- Parker DJ
- Journal / Source
- inSite Archaeology Ltd for
- Publisher / Organisation
- Te Araroa Trust
- Summary
- The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (“NZTA”) and Te Araroa Trust wish to construct a 120 m long, pedestrian swing bridge (“the bridge”) across the Whangaehu River, approximately 1.5 km from the river mouth, to allow the Te Araroa trail to be re-routed away from State Highway 3 south of Whanganui (Figure 1). The bridge will be situated in the coastal dune environment, an area of intensive historic Māori occupation by the Ngāti Apa and Whanganui iwi as well as a more limited occupation by early Pākehā. A multitude of archaeological sites are recorded in the general vicinity and wider landscape of the bridge, predominantly on the left-bank of the river, but these are not expected to be affected due to the minor nature of the earthworks that are required