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Story: Roads

Soldiers building roads

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Soldiers building roads

Men of the 12th and 14th regiments of the British army dig a cutting on Pōkeno hill, just south of the Bombay Hills. They are building the military road to the Waikato (State Highway 1 today) in 1862 or 1863. When soldiers were not fighting Māori, they were put to work building roads.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Urquhart Album (PA1-q-250)

Reference: PA1-q-250-52

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Carl Walrond, Roads – Early roads, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23291/soldiers-building-roads (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Carl Walrond, published 2 March 2010, updated 1 March 2016.