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Birchville

Location

DescriptionBirchville is a suburb of Upper Hutt, New Zealand in the North Island. Its centre lies at the entrance to the Akatarawa Valley, in the north of the city, near confluence of the Akatarawa Stream with the Hutt River. It is about a 5 km (10 minute) drive north from the centre of Upper Hutt. The Birchville community is spread out along both banks of the Hutt River in a long fairly narrow valley.

Originally described as being part of Akatarawa or Mungaroa in early news paper reports. The "Town of Birchville" only appears in land registry records during the mid-1920s, when the Commissioner of Crown Lands offered week-end cottage sections on the banks of the Hutt River for sale or lease. Other land owners also subdivided their land on the opposite river bank, when the sections in the original subdivision all sold and many were built on. These subdividers noted that Birchville was a popular week-end holiday resort.

Europeans first explored this area in 1840. On 4th (or 5th) August that year, a party of 5, led by Dr. Ernest Diffenbach, using a punt to travel up-river, had reached the Akatarawa Stream junction. The party appears to have stopped on the riverbank to brew tea before continuing up the Akatarawa Stream.

The locality was first settled in the late 19th century. In the mid-1860s the Provincial Government proposed building a road and/or railway line between what was then called Mungaroa in the Upper Hutt Valley and Waikanae, to overcome the difficult route of the Paekakariki Hill Road. Lands in the Akatarawa Valley were put up for sale and a line of road had been surveyed by 1878. Over the next couple of years work proceeded in driving the road up the Akatarawa Valley.

In 1880, the Hutt County Council accepted tenders to build two wooden bridges across the Hutt and Akatarawa Rivers and subsequently cut a bridle track to Waikanae. A water-colour by Christopher Aubrey of the Akatarawa Valley painted in 1890 shows these "black bridges" and the Akatarawa Road as it then was.

During the 1890s the Black Bridge Mill was established between the two bridges, on what is now known as Bridge Road. The mill was served by a bush tramway.

During 1914 the Upper Hutt Borough Council purchased an area of land to supply water for Upper Hutt. Then, in the early 1930s, the Birchville Dam was built for the Upper Hutt Borough Council.

About 1915, Hutt County Council proposed building a concrete bridge across the Hutt River just north of the Akatarawa Stream because the wooden bridges could no longer carry the traffic loads.

In December 1939, flooding of the Hutt River washed away one mid-channel pier of the concrete bridge as well as causing damage to the deck of the Black Bridge near the Akatarawa Store. While the pier on the concrete bridge was replaced, the wooden bridges were redecked and pressed into service to provide an alternative route for Akatarawa Road traffic.

However, over the next few years the state of these wooden bridges deteriorated so much that eventually they were restricted to pedestrian traffic. In 1954, the Hutt County Council replaced the bridge across the Akatarawa Stream with one that had a concrete deck supported on a single concrete pier of the original wooden bridge in the middle of the stream. This bridge has a name plate calling it Andrews Bridge. However, the County Council did not repair the wooden bridge over the Hutt River and instead chose to remove the deck, leaving only the substructure that carried the Upper Hutt water supply and other services. In October 1998 another flood so damaged the remaining piers and structure of this 1880's vintage bridge that it needed to be demolished. There is now little physical evidence to show where this bridge crossed the Hutt River other than power lines that align with a paper road shown on some maps.

Around 1980, a two lane concrete bridge was built immediately upstream of the Akatarawa Road concrete bridge built in 1917 and because that bridge was no longer safe to use it was demolished. The remains of this first concrete bridge's piers and abutments can still be seen in the riverbed and on the river banks today.

Stop Banks were also constructed north of the new bridge to prevent flooding of the Parkdale subdivision that was being developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

When the Parkdale subdivision was developed during the 1970s, confusion arose over what was the appropriate name for the suburb should be. In 1982, the New Zealand Geographic Board clarified that Birchville, rather than Parkdale, Rivervale, Akatarawa, or Gillespies Road was the official locality name. The Upper Hutt City Council again affirmed, during the first decade of the 21st century, that the suburb of Birchville included all the housing developments along Akatarawa Road and Gemstone Drive between State Highway 2 and the Akatarawa Cemetery.

The Hutt River Trail now provides formal walking paths for tourist and residents along both banks of the river from Totara Park to the Akatarawa Stream. In places, the remains of the old waterworks can be seen beside the trail in some places. Also, the Cannon Point Walkway track, which passes the Birchville Dam, can be accessed from the river trail at the end of Bridge Road. North-east of the Akatarawa Road bridge, the river trail extends on both banks but there is no crossing available upstream.

At Twin Bridges Park - near the Akatarawa Road Bridge and Andrews Bridge - is the Birchville Picnic Area, which has a Tea Shelter and several picnic tables. Beneath the bridges are two popular swimming holes.

On the 29 October 2015, after heavy rain, the Birchville Bridge partially collapsed, cutting off 70 homes from road, gas and water access. Initial inspections showed a 150 mm gap had opened up in the bridge deck at the centre of the pier with 40 mm of movement at the abutment. An underwater inspection indicated that there was a hole in the river bed under one side of the pier. Both ends of the bridge were then barricaded off.
A temporary services bridge was completed on 30 March 2016 and services on the collapsed Bridge were relocated to it. In September of 2016 demolition of the bridge began. In October 2016 work began on the construction of the new bridge. This was completed on 3 May 2017 and after a safety inspection that same day it was opened to the public. The official blessing and opening ceremony took place at 6:30am on the 24 May 2017. Coordinates^[1]

Photos

Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River; Birchville

Swimmers in Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River at Birchville; Circa 1969

Te Awa Kairangi / Hutt River at Birchville; Circa 1969

Tramping Trip Cannon Point to Birchville Dam; 1964

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 5; beams arriving

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 7; base of temporary support tower

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 1; site

Akatarawa Bridge 3 construction 6; river cleared for temporary support tower

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 2; temporary service bridge in place

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 4; site; abutments in place.

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 11; second beam nearly in place

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 10; second beam ready for lowering

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 9; second beam starts moving

Akatarawa bridge 3 construction 3; new piles

Akatarawa bridge 2 4; demolition, 2016

Akatarawa bridge 2 3; partial collapse; 2015

More Information

CreditsInformation about the 2015 Birchville bridge collapse and the project to replace it can be found by clicking this linkBirchville Wikipedia

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Birchville