Kawarau Suspension Bridge
A leap of faith
Historic Kawarau Suspension Bridge is an innovative feat of engineering that has withstood notorious canyon winds for over 140 years.
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The significance of Kawarau Suspension Bridge
Source of food for Ngāi Tahu
The Kawarau River is a traditional travel route that provided direct access between Whakatipu Waimāori (Lake Whakatipu) and Mata-au (the Clutha River). A natural rock bridge known as Pōtiki-whata-rumaki-nao once existed on the Kawarau, allowing people to cross the river. Kawarau was also a kāinga mahinga kai (food-gathering place) where weka, kākāpō, kea, and tuna (eel) were gathered.
Award winning engineering in a challenging environment
Today Kawarau Suspension Bridge is best known as the birthplace of bungy tourism, where people every day leap from the equivalent of a 10-storey building held safe by just a giant elastic band around their ankles. But in 1880 this is where a daring new bridge design was introduced to the world.
The challenge for engineer Harry Higginson was a sheer rocky gorge that funnelled destructive side winds. Higginson was aware that in other countries several near-new bridges had been destroyed by such winds. To meet this challenge, he combined a range of innovative strengthening solutions, such as inward sloping cables, to come up with a suspension bridge that was 4m high with a 120m long span. The design proved economical and enduring, and in 1882 his work won the Telford Premium, a world’s top engineering award.
Kawarau Suspension Bridge is proudly cared for by Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai
Things to do on and around Kawarau Suspension Bridge
Kawarau Suspension Bridge can be experienced in three ways: bungy jumping off it, cycling over it or walking across it.
Take the leap with the original bungy jump
Bungy jump if you’re feeling adventurous; this is the world’s original commercial bungy venture, begun by A. J. Hackett in 1988. Thousands of people jump off the bridge annually.
Spectacular hiking and cycling trails
If walking or cycling is more your thing, you’re in luck. The historic bridge forms part of the popular Queenstown’s Arrow River Bridges scenic cycle route, which winds its way high above Kawarau River through a premier wine-growing region.
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