23-720: The Puniu River is a river of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island . As a tributary of the Waipā River (itself a tributary of the Waikato River ), and at a length of 57 kilometres (35 mi), it is one of the longest secondary tributaries in New Zealand. The Puniu flows initially north from sources within the Pureora Forest Park , veering northwest to pass south of the towns of Kihikihi and Te Awamutu before meeting
46-416: A punt . The cost was £35,000 (2016 equivalent $ 3.3m). It had a lifting span allowing passage of vessels up to 50 ft (15 m) wide and with a 60 ft (18 m) clearance at high tide. In 2001 the 1927 bridge was replaced by the current 9-span, 230 m (250 yd), double lane, pre-stressed concrete bridge for $ 6.2m (2016 equivalent $ 8.5m). The new bridge doesn't allow for shipping, as
69-542: A few mud sections. In 1937 the 6 mi (9.7 km) between Ōhaupō and Te Awamutu was the only unsealed section north of Tokanui . By 1949 the road was sealed as far south as Te Kūiti and the reinforced concrete bridge over the Waipā at Ōtorohanga had been started. The 12 ft (3.7 m) wide, single-lane, 11-span, 670 ft (200 m), steel, Mokau Bridge opened in October 1927 (official opening 17 December), replacing
92-504: A junction with SH 2 . Both the Awakino and Manawatū gorges are prone to closure by slips and rockslides in heavy rain. Construction of a bypass of Bell Block , a satellite town of New Plymouth, was completed in 2010. The bypass is a four-lane, divided expressway with an interchange at Henwood Road providing access to Bell Block. In 2016, a section of SH 3 in Taranaki was realigned replacing
115-564: Is a gap in the SH 3 designation here due to the closure of the Manawatū Gorge route in 2017, and traffic between Ashhurst and Woodville is required to detour via nearby Saddle Road while a replacement highway on a new alignment is under construction. SH 3 resumes where the Saddle Road detour meets the former Manawatū Gorge route, but almost immediately thereafter enters Woodville and terminates at
138-500: Is buried in many places by Quaternary ignimbrites . The main ignimbrite is the Ongatiti Formation, up to 150 m thick of compound, weakly to strongly welded, vitrophyric , including pumice -, andesite and rhyolite lavas. In several places the river runs past slopes covered in blocks of ignimbrite, where the underlying greywacke has eroded. For the remainder of its course, the river meanders over alluvium and colluvium to
161-575: The Manawatū Gorge between Ashhurst and Woodville in the Manawatū-Whanganui region was closed in April 2017 due to a large slip, with SH 3 traffic diverted via Saddle Road. Contractors were pulled out of clearing the slip in July 2017 due to ongoing geological movement in the hill, closing the road indefinitely. The NZTA began fast-tracking a long-term solution to bypass and replace the gorge. In March 2018,
184-519: The Mimi River valley to return to the coast near Urenui . Bypassing Waitara , it reaches New Plymouth then turns inland, passing to the east of Mount Taranaki via Inglewood , Stratford and Eltham to Hāwera . From Hāwera the highway follows the coast of the South Taranaki Bight south-eastwards to Patea and Whanganui before leaving the coast and heading to Bulls . Here, SH 1 from
207-471: The Pureora Forest Park , before flowing past some unprotected remnants of rimu - tawa forest. In its lower reaches the river mostly flows through farmland, where the Puniu River Care Project is working on restoration of the river. In its final 22 km (14 mi) from Tokanui flows usually take 9 to 17 hours, depending on river levels. The Puniu is 6th dirtiest out of 13 sampling points in
230-483: The Waipā River 3 km (2 mi) south of Pirongia . About half the river's course from its sources on the edge of the Rangitoto Range is through deep valleys and gorges formed of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Manaia Hill Group greywacke (a form of sandstone , with little or no bedding , fine to medium grained, interbedded with siltstone and conglomerate , and with many quartz veins ), which
253-555: The "deadly" Normanby overbridge. State Highway 3 will form part of the future/proposed Southern Links motorway project in the South/West of Hamilton and Tamahere. In January 2016, funding was announced for road bypasses of the two tunnels north of New Plymouth . Construction of the Mount Messenger and Awakino Gorge tunnel bypasses was expected to begin within two years. On 24 August 2020 Te Korowai Tiahi o Te Hauauru, whose rohe
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#1732859217737276-451: The 110 mi (180 km) – now 162 km – from New Plymouth to Te Kūiti in 17½ hours. The first car to traverse the route from Auckland to New Plymouth seems to have been an 8 hp Cadillac in 1905, though Ōtorohanga to Te Kūiti was by train and, between Awakino and Mokau, a horse assisted on the beach. A 1910 Te Kūiti meeting called for metalling of the road to Awakino. Mount Messenger Tunnel opened in 1916 and its single lane
299-497: The NZTA announced a bypass would be built to the north of the gorge, but south of the Saddle Road. Known as Te Ahu a Turanga/Manawatū Tararua Highway, construction of the $ 620 million road began in January 2021 and is expected be completed in late 2024. SH 3 has one spur, designated State Highway 3A. This 15.6 km stretch links State Highway 3 just west of Waitara to Inglewood, providing
322-550: The Waipa catchment, with unsatisfactory nitrogen , phosphorus and turbidity levels. Puniu is the only river in Waikato with worsening ammonia levels. The river originally had a seasonal ford near Kihikihi . The first bridge there was built about 1885, when the 300 ft (91 m) long railway bridge was also built. A 228 ft (69 m) ferro-concrete bridge replaced the old wooden bridge, 22 ch (443 m) downstream. It
345-743: The Waipa. Initially these are mainly the Late Quaternary Piako Subgroup, which includes Late Pleistocene alluvium, and minor fan deposits of unconsolidated to very soft, thinly to thickly bedded, yellow-grey to orange-brown, pumiceous mud, silt, sandy mud and gravel, with local muddy peat. Finally, the river flows mostly over the Holocene floodplain, where the alluvium and colluvium consist of variously coloured, unconsolidated sand, silt, mud, clay, local gravel and thin intercalated (a form of interbedding , where distinct deposits in close proximity migrate back and forth) peat beds. The river rises in
368-473: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 757399477 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:46:58 GMT State Highway 3 (New Zealand) State Highway 3 ( SH 3 ) is one of New Zealand 's eight national state highways . It serves the west coast of
391-413: The country's North Island and forms a link between State Highway 1 and State Highway 2 . Distances are measured from north to south. For most of its length SH 3 is a two-lane single carriageway, with at-grade intersections and property accesses, both in rural and urban areas. A Mokau – Awakino horse track was widened to a dray track about 1897. It was then possible for a horse and buggy to cover
414-560: The first ship to pass under the old lifting span was withdrawn three months after the bridge opened. An 1871 account of a coach journey from New Plymouth to Wellington described the very poor road round the coast via Ōpunake to Whanganui and the much better and well used road south from there. A government subsidy of £3,000 (2016 equivalent $ 400,000) a year was being paid for the coach north of Whanganui. The highway leaves SH 1C at Hamilton, and initially heads south through farmland, passing through Te Awamutu . Sections of this stretch of
437-499: The north intersects with SH 3, and the two highways are concurrent for the next 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to Sanson where SH 1 diverges to the south. SH 3 continues its south-eastern route to Palmerston North , where it runs through the city streets and changes to a north-eastern direction near the city centre. It maintains this direction as far as Ashhurst , where it crosses the Manawatū River and intersects with SH 57 . There
460-573: The road are four-laned, but not divided carriageway. From Ōtorohanga it follows the valley of the Waipā River to Te Kūiti . The road then turns southwest through sparsely settled farmland, crossing several ridges before following the Awakino gorge to reach the coast, which it follows around the North Taranaki Bight. At the Tongaporutu River the highway turns inland to avoid coastal cliffs and climbs over Mount Messenger before descending via
483-547: The road crosses, withdrew support from the bypass roading project while in High Court . The Poutama Charitable Trust and New Plymouth locals protested against the project while court was in session, with the argument that this new route would destroy the valley's ecosystem. However, the Transport Agency responded by saying that the bypass is the least ecologically destructive and will deliver road safety. The highway through
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#1732859217737506-522: Was enlarged about 1983. £3,000 (2016 equivalent $ 280,000) was provided in 1919 for the Awakino Gorge section, including the tunnel (enlarged in 2011), and it was opened in March 1923 at a total cost of about £60,000 (2016 equivalent $ 5.8m). Most of the route was gazetted as a government main highway in 1924, some sections were tar-sealed in 1925 and more work had been done on the road by 1936, leaving only
529-560: Was largely built in 1936, completed in 1937 and still serves SH3 . "Place name detail: Puniu River" . New Zealand Gazetteer . New Zealand Geographic Board . Retrieved 12 July 2009 . 38°01′S 175°13′E / 38.017°S 175.217°E / -38.017; 175.217 1:50,000 map - source , mouth Google Maps 'Street Views' from the six bridges over the river - Pokuru Rd , SH3 Otorohanga Rd , Bayley Rd , Wharepapa S Rd , Bayley Rd , Ngaroma Rd . Waikato Too Many Requests If you report this error to
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