SHAFT SHUFTI: Engineers were checking the Durie Hill elevator shaft yesterday.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 260515WCSMELEVATOR1
SHAFT SHUFTI: Engineers were checking the Durie Hill elevator shaft yesterday.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 260515WCSMELEVATOR1
What goes up must come down, and that's been the story of Wanganui's historic Durie Hill elevator for nigh on 100 years.
Yesterday engineers and electricians carried out their meticulous annual inspection of the unique facility.
The yearly inspection means closing the elevator for a full day. It's not theonly check, however, with regular monthly inspections also carried out. Yesterday workmen were checking the electric motor powering the elevator, as well as the cables, the cage and every centimetre of the 66m-deep shaft.
The idea for this novel form of public transport started in 1910 when Durie Hill became part of the Wanganui borough. That posed a problem for the borough council, knowing that hill residents expected public transport.
Initially the council thought a cable car would fit the bill but when that proved too expensive, the elevator got the thumbs-up. The plan was to run it as a public facility but ratepayers were not prepared to bear the financial risk, so a private company - the Durie Town Elevator Co - was formed to take over the scheme. Construction began in 1916, and that included the 205m tunnel from Anzac Pde to the base of the lift shaft, as well as the 66m-high shaft itself.
