History

In 1857 Ebenezer Hay and his nephew John, took up Tekapo Station, a run of 35 000 acres on the shores of Lake Tekapo. This was to be the first lease taken up around the lake. It wasn't that much later this country became known as good for sheep and so the taking up of more runs began.

Bales of wool had to be transported to Timaru. Crossing the cold, deep and fast flowing Tekapo River was a major event. John Burgess of Burke's Pass was said to be the first to transport stores and produce across the river at this point.

'Nearly 21 years previously Joseph Beswick stocked the station, afterwards known as Glenmore, and on the first day of the year1860 Burgess unloaded from his bullock dray and on the north side of the river, at the site of the bridge, a whale boat which was to serve as a means of communication. He swam his bullocks across the river and ferried over their gear and a sledge, on which he loaded his stores and dragged them thence to the station, a distance of about 6 miles. After shearing he conveyed the wool, two bales at a time, to the river, boated them over, and when a dray load had thus been boated, he swam his team and brought the load to Timaru. Up till the time the bridge was built, the cost of upkeep of the punts was nearly £200 a year.' Anderson, Jubilee History of South Canterbury.

Establishing a ferry across the Tekapo River was soon a great concern to both the early settlers and the Mount Cook Road Board. From 1862 some form of ferry was operating but not always with a government licence. The original lease for the fery held the condition that an accommodation house 'providing at least one sitting room and two bedrooms with four beds' must be erected by 1 May 1863.

By 1877 the Tekapo Ferry was well established with the first Takapo House built. The ferry decking was 30ft long and 10ft wide. The decking was supported on two boats and was capable of carrying two or three bulock teams. It crossed the stream opposite the hotel. Frequent floods and heavy nor' west winds during the summer often prevented the use of the ferry for a day or two, while the cost of repairs and maintenance was also very heavy. A bridge had to be built.

 

An engineer's report in 1875 suggested that 'owing to snowfall a wooden bridge would be less durable than elsewhere', and recommended an iron structure. The bridge was finally built at a cost of £5 000. It was a suspension bridge on concrete piers with a central span of 150ft and two end spans of 75ft each. Because of the high winds common to this locality it was considered advisable to take some extra precautions to stiffen the work. The spans were strongly braced by iron rods, the planking laid diagonally, and the ironbark struts under the centre span slightly splayed. Despite this residents can recall, as children on the way to school, revelling in the wide swings generated by the nor' west winds. The bridge was formally opened on7 September 1880.

Lake Tekapo became much more than a tourist attraction when the area was included in a giant plan for hydro-electric power development. Work that began in 1938 was put on hold during WW II. The dam was built across the outlet of Lake Tekapo in 1940. The control gates regulated the amount of water entering the Tekapo River which feeds into the Waitaki River. A 1.6km intake tunnel was constructed through the ancient glacial moraine to supply water from the lake to the power station. The power station was finally commissioned in 1951.

The lake was raised to its current maximum level to provide storage capability in 1954 and Takapo House and Tekapo Bridge were demolished.

'The Tekapo Bridge, which will be costly to repair, has been permanently closed. It has outlived its usefulness. The main road will be deviated to cross the new dam, thus eliminating the need for a bridge'. Timaru Herald, 27 February 1953.

It is in this same year that reference can first be found to the construction of a footbridge.

'A recent meeting of the Tekapo Planning Commission has discussed the desirability of having a footbridge erected on the site of the Tekapo Bridge which has been closed to vehicular traffic. It was thought that an approach should be made to the highways board to allow salvage of the old bridge for material to erect the proposed footbridge, said the chairman (Mr CV Kirke) at a meeting yesterday of the Mackenzie Council. It should be clearly understood, he said, that this footbridge should not be built when there was more important work in the County to be done. It was merely a matter of acquiring the timber from the old bridge.' Timaru Herald, 18 August 1953.

It is obvious that this request got no further because '...the bridge has not outlasted its usefulness. The timber was found to be in good condition and now makes temporary bridging on the road to the Hermitage.' Timaru Herald, 3 February 1955.

Over the years the erection of a footbridge has surfaced time and time again. Sometimes as a community project. Other times as part of a development for the township of Lake Tekapo.

In 1997  a Lake Tekapo Footbridge Working Party was formed by locals with support of the Mackenzie District Council. Plans and concepts were drawn up. Funding was not available and the project failed. A report for the Lake Tekapo Footbridge Working party was prepared by Montgomery Watson NZ Ltd of Dunedin in 2000 on Footbridge options. This report was solely funded by R. Rayward. It is this report that has been the foundation of the decisions made by the latest committee to consider the project of building a footbridge.

In the past five years, Lake Tekapo township has expanded. Half the town's residents live on the opposite side of the bridge to the main centre and school. Tourist numbers have dramatically increased. It is said the Church of the Good Shepherd is the most photographed view in New Zealand. Pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks and buses now all share a narrow bridge not designed for today's heavy traffic and Lake Tekapo's expanding population.

The Lake Tekapo Footbridge Society was formed in 2009 by a group of residents. In 2010 it was registered as a charity and consequently was accepted as an incorporated society.

Initially, a flyer  was sent around all residents and rate payers seeking views and opnions on this project. Of the 60 responses only two were a definite 'No' to the project. Ideas and suggestions were considered by the committee and together with the details of the report on different options, engineer's plans were drawn up in early 2010.