Kōrero: Building materials

Portland cement works, Warkworth, 1880

Portland cement works, Warkworth, 1880

Cement was first produced near Warkworth, and in the 1850s was used in the Queen Street sewer and other Auckland construction projects. But it was not until manufacturers could produce high-quality cement (known as Portland cement) in 1865 that they could compete with imports. Cement is a finely ground, grey mineral powder made of two main materials, lime and clay. When water is added it acts as glue, and when mixed with sand and aggregate it forms concrete – the most widely used construction material in the world. The cement was shipped to Auckland from a wharf on the Mahurangi River.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library, Price Collection
Reference: 1/2-000596-G
Photograph by William Archer Price

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.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Jeremy Salmond, 'Building materials - Stone, bricks and mortar', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/25107/portland-cement-works-warkworth-1880 (accessed 30 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Jeremy Salmond, i tāngia i te 11 Mar 2010