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Kōrero: Streets and lighting

Laying wood blocks, 1913

Image
Laying wood blocks, 1913

On busy streets tar-soaked wooden blocks were laid to provide a stronger and more durable surface than macadam. The blocks would be cemented into place by pug (clay). This 1913 image shows workers laying blocks along Auckland’s Karangahape Road.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: 7-A119

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Adrian Humphris, Streets and lighting – Street construction and surfaces, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/24486/laying-wood-blocks-1913 (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Adrian Humphris, i tāngia i te 6 April 2010.