Kawarau Bridge

Story

The Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge is a bridge which runs over the Kawarau River in the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The bridge is mainly used for commercial purposes by the AJ Hackett Bungy Company for the purposes of bungy jumping; the site was the world's first commercial bungy jumping site. The bridge also forms part of the Queenstown Trail which allows walkers/runners and bikers to pass over the river. The bridge is inside a Department of Conservation reserve.LocationThe bridge is between the start of the Crown Range Road and Gibbston within the Kawarau Gorge which is in the Wakatipu Basin. It is 43m above the Kawarau River.HistoryThe bridge was designed by Harry Paisley Higginson. The bridge was completed in late 1880, and formed a key access route to the Central Otago goldfields. It was replaced by a new highway bridge on State Highway 6 in 1963. It is classified by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I historic place.NameThe bridge is known by a variety of names including; Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, Kawarau Suspension Bridge, Kawarau bridge and Kawarau Bungy Bridge.