Tokirima History
Bridge across the Ohura River on Kaikara Road
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Tokirima History Bridge across the Ohura River on Kaikara Road Recorded by Rosemary Corbett |
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Information from Fred Blank and John Fordham - ex residents The first bridges (or bridges) were low level and got washed away. Steel piles from an early bridge are still visible in the River.
The suspension bridge was probably built about 1930. Its deck was only seven foot six inches wide and caused problems. One incident mentioned: There'd been a Social "do" one winter evening down at Grant's Woolshed. It must have been in the early Fifties because one of the chaps form Aviation Enterprises (the early Top Dressing firm) had managed to get his vehicle stuck on the side of the road towards Tokirima. Charlie Little, with his 30 hundredweight Commer truck, went to help him out. Mission over and on his way home again he somehow misjudges the approach to the suspension bridge with the result that the truck rode up the left stay wire until it gracefully tipped over and landed on its side. He left it there till the following morning. John was roped in to help with the rescue but when he saw it he realised it was going to take more than the proverbial bit of number eight and some wire strainers to right it. Enter Doug Grant with his ex Army Peep, and eventually the truck was upright, checked over and driven away, none the worse for its undignified tumble. .............................................................................. With the advent of top dressing in the district, larger trucks were needed for transporting fertilizer. Planes used Grant's river flat to sow manure for a number of farmers, so a wider bridge was needed. In 1960 the contract to build a concrete bridge was granted to a man called Tom Reeve from Otorohanga who had only a small gang of workmen. Timber for the boxing was all cut with hand saws. The girders, in three sections came by road from Wanganui, with vehicles both fore and aft. There was difficulty experienced in getting through the tunnel at Aukopae, the girders having to be offloaded, hauled through the tunnel and reloaded again. Understandably the other two spans were brought in by another route. Fred and John helped with the concreting along with two others from the Taumarunui County. It was a big job, as each section had to be poured in one day - work carrying on till 10pm on one occasion. The bridge at first had wooden rails, which tempted one young lass, on her way home from school, to do a balancing act from one end of the bridge to the other - much to the distress of her younger sibling! These wooden side rails have now been replaced with pipes. As recorded by Rosemary Corbet and typed by Gail Gower – Aug 2005 |
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The late George Gower told the story of how he was going from Koiro to Tokirima to a dance on evening. It was dark and at the low level bridge his horse baulked. On further investigation George found the bridge was no longer there - having been washed away. There was nothing else to do but backtrack and cross the river at Maraekowhai.