Story: Rock, limestone and clay

Road construction around 1930

Road construction around 1930

For many years picks, shovels and muscle were the main tools for road works. Rock for building up the road was often what lay close to hand. If a bluff had to be blasted for the road to pass, the rubble would be used in the road works. Road workers of this era smoked plug tobacco in clay pipes and wore bowyangs – string tied around their knees to keep their trousers clear of the mud.

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Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: PAColl-7796-73

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, 'Rock, limestone and clay - Aggregate', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/5212/road-construction-around-1930 (accessed 20 March 2024)

Story by Carl Walrond, published 12 Jun 2006