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364:. The tunnel is in weak mudstones with considerable ground water. Steel props supported the base of the walls above the lowered invert. Failures of these props and the tunnel's drainage resulted in areas of significant inward cracking of the brickwork. In 1934 a 45 m (148 ft) bulging length was rebuilt to the original profile with a reinforced concrete invert. In 1965 a further 12 m (39 ft) was replaced to improve clearance and to investigate the feasibility of enlarging the old tunnel. The proposal was abandoned as it would have taken at least 9 years and cost twice as much.
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346:. However, the sacred grove was felled before tohunga could remove the tapu, and was said to have caused people to die of illnesses that traditional Māori medicine could have cured. The trees were used for railway sleepers. Also, construction polluted a puna wai tapu (holy spring) where tohunga lived.
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Towards the end of the construction of the new tunnel, it was feared the old one might collapse. It was shrinking 2-3mm a year when tunnel drainage was working and effective strutting was in place, and 8-10mm per year when it wasn't. The central invert drain had blocked and some steel props were
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sites. Local hapū were only alerted to the
Government's plans to construct the railway directly through Tihikārearea when construction workers arrived to begin work on the tunnel, around 1886. They told the workers not to put the track through the sacred ground, and tapu poles were put in the
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Although the station closed for goods in 1976, it remained open for
Ministry of Works traffic, during construction of the new tunnel, until 10 November 1980. There was also a station at Porootarao South from about November 1898 till about November 1902.
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281:. Work on the Mōkau station to Poro-O-Tarao tunnel section had started in September 1892. It was officially open for traffic on 21 December 1896. Work on the Ohinemoa section (Poro-O-Tarao tunnel to Te Kawakawa, south of
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and joints weaken the rock, which is weak anyway. Narrow zones of crushed rock allow water in. The southern approaches to the new tunnel are largely unstable landslide debris, formed of silty clay with rock fragments.
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contract time of two years, and also that it be built before the railway reached Te Kuiti (the railhead did not reach the site until 1897) so materials had to be taken over 46 miles (74 km) of
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locomotive crashed and overturned at the station, along with 12 of the train's 46 trucks. Several cattle and sheep were killed, but there were no other casualties.
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Thus, when the railway was electrified, a new 6 m (20 ft) diameter, 1,272 m (4,173 ft) tunnel was built to the west. It goes through
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buckling. It was so bad, a contingency plan for reopening the old tunnel in the event of it collapsing, was designed. Fortunately it wasn't needed.
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awarded a contract to J. J. O'Brien for the Poro-O-Tarao section (including tunnel) in August 1885. The PWD originally required an
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277:, though the rails reached Poro-O-Tarao on 1 December 1896 and, from 18 January 1897, a weekly goods train ran through from
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later said that if the line had been built to the site first, the tunnel could have been built more cheaply and easily.
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valley. It was 9.68 km (6.01 mi) north of
Waimiha and 5.89 km (3.66 mi) south of Mangapehi.
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In 1935 the driver and fireman of a northbound goods train were overcome by fumes in the tunnel and the
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had been promised the railway would go around Tihikārearea, home to 23 sacred healing trees and other
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Poro-O-Tarao was one of the smallest tunnels on the NIMT. As a result, prior to 1920, it had had its
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632:"Engineering geological investigations in soft rock terrain, Poro-o-tarao tunnel, New Zealand"
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The tunnel to the south of the station was 53 ch (3,500 ft; 1,100 m) long. The
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rivers, the NIMT enters Poro-O-Tarao tunnel under Tihikārearea hill, before descending the
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513:"Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand 1863 to 2010"
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650:"Poro-o-tarao tunnel duplication: summary of engineering geological investigations"
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Third
Australia-New Zealand conference on Geomechanics: Wellington, May 12–16, 1980
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rocks, including landslides; the cause of hummocky ground and many small scarps. A
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opened on 1 December 1903, Poro-O-Tarao was the terminus of the line from
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617:"Beca Infrastructure Ltd. Repair and Modification of NZ Railway Tunnels"
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Work began on the tunnel in 1886 and was complete by 27 August 1890.
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Porootarau Tunnel northern portal and station site (to left) in 2018
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2016 video of electric freight train leaving the tunnel
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of New
Zealand. Between the watersheds of the upper
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468:"Te Mana Whatu Ahuru Waitangi Tribunal Report 2018"
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563:. Wellington: Tross Publishing. pp. 113–118.
379:at the north portal showed gently-dipping massive
296:Train coming out of Poro-O-Tarao tunnel about 1910
269:For 2 years, from 1 April 1901 until the line to
1001:Railway stations in New Zealand closed in 1976
996:Railway stations in New Zealand opened in 1901
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534:"PORO-O-TARAO TUNNEL. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE"
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561:Sweat and Toil: The Building of Ner Zealand
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630:Borrie, G. W.; Riddolls, B. W. (1980).
487:(Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993.
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41:Poro-O-Tarao railway station about 1910
330:1886 construction camp at Poro-O-Tarau
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585:"THE RUNAWAY TRAIN. WAIKATO TIMES"
520:Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand
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121:443.58 km (275.63 mi)
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888:Poro-O-Tarao railway station
285:) started by December 1897.
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100:339 m (1,112 ft)
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81:38.549743°S 175.314288°E
908:Waiteti railway station
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307:Public Works Department
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198:North Island Main Trunk
109:North Island Main Trunk
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242:(or Porootarao) was a
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903:Wairere Power Station
756:Maniaiti / Benneydale
559:McLean, John (2020).
430:"Porootarao, Waikato"
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240:Poro-O-Tarao
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134:1 April 1901
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719:New Zealand
434:NZ Topo Map
381:interbedded
373:sedimentary
371:Group soft
147:Electrified
142:10 May 1976
84: /
72:175°18′51″E
60:Coordinates
55:New Zealand
975:Categories
927:Government
416:References
311:impossible
271:Taumarunui
119:Wellington
69:38°32′59″S
781:Rangitoto
393:sandstone
389:siltstone
385:claystone
260:Whanganui
186:Mangapehi
150:June 1988
97:Elevation
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796:Te Kūiti
766:Marokopa
761:Māhoenui
732:Te Kūiti
660:28 March
544:27 March
439:28 March
369:Mahoenui
279:Puketutu
275:Auckland
203:KiwiRail
159:Services
115:Distance
52:Location
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791:Te Anga
786:Taharoa
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283:Ōngarue
264:Ōngarue
246:on the
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126:History
105:Line(s)
776:Piopio
656:. 1975
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358:invert
139:Closed
131:Opened
939:Mayor
801:Tiroa
771:Mōkau
516:(PDF)
471:(PDF)
383:weak
377:drive
256:Mōkau
746:Āria
728:Seat
662:2020
638:: 2.
597:2022
565:ISBN
546:2020
489:ISBN
441:2020
391:and
339:tapu
258:and
654:GNS
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