Whanganui contractors hit 113-year-old tram line culvert in Castlecliff

The culvert runs across the path of the new stormwater main. Photo / Archaeology North

Workers laying stormwater pipes in the Whanganui suburb of Castlecliff have hit a 113-year-old culvert - built to accommodate the city’s now-defunct tram line.

A report from Whanganui’s Archaeology North said a tramline from Gonville to Castlecliff was built in 1911.

At the time, the land surrounding the culvert was owned by the Matipo Land Company.

The company named streets in the area after native trees, such as Raupo, Kowhai and Matipo.

When the culvert was opened by Loaders contractors this week, a plumber’s box belonging to A.E Falconer and Co Ltd was found inside.

“Alfred Edward Falconer moved to Whanganui in 1920 from Christchurch where he learned the trade and was a prominent plumber,” the report said.

“He established his own business in Whanganui under his own name in Campbell Place in 1922.

“After his death in 1936, the company operated from Campbell Place under the same name until at least 1948.”

The report said the box was unlikely to be associated with the construction of the culvert and was probably deposited in the drain after its construction.

Whanganui’s tram service ran from 1908 to 1950.

A Whanganui Chronicle article from 1950 said when the service started running, the total length of track “was only 4 1/2 miles [7.24km]”.

The remains of A.E Falconer's plumber's box. Photo / Archaeology North

“With the completion of the full programme for serving Wanganui and suburbs the length of track increased to 17 miles [27.3km], and from an original cost of £45,000 the capital cost increased to more than £250,000,” the article said.

Whanganui District Council Three Waters project engineer Nikki Ni said the discovery of the culvert would not cause any delays to the project.

Contractors are laying 623 metres of new stormwater mains from Raupo St at Tongariro St, along Puriri St and up Kowhai St.

Last year, contractors installing a wastewater main on Nixon St in Whanganui East were slowed by 4575-year-old tōtara timber, which was discovered at a depth of about 8m. The timber continuously jammed the boring machine used for the project.

Ni said she had worked on four stormwater projects for the council over the past five years and this was the first time she had needed to call Archeology North.

“The contractor found the culvert on Monday [May 6] at around 4pm and Michael [Taylor] and Hamish [Crimp] from Archaeology North were on-site first thing on Tuesday morning,” she said.

“When you’re doing construction work there is always a risk that you’ll find something, but [the archaeology work] only took two or three hours.

“The culvert crosses our new stormwater alignment so we’ve had to cut through it. We’ve followed all the right procedures.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.