The Ashley River (; officially Ashley River / Rakahuri) is in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

region of New Zealand. It flows generally southeastwards for before entering the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Waikuku Beach Waikuku Beach is a small settlement on the coast of Canterbury region of New Zealand, about 3 km east of the settlement of Waikuku. The sandy beach is popular with surfers and swimmers, and the large estuary of the Ashley River hosts many s ...

Pegasus Bay Pegasus Bay, earlier known as Cook's Mistake, is a bay on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, to the north of Banks Peninsula. Toponymy Pegasus Bay takes its name from the brig ''Pegasus'', a sealing ship that was sailing fro ...

north of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. The town of

Rangiora Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...

is close to the south bank of the Ashley River. The river's official name was changed from Ashley River to the

dual name Dual naming is the adoption of an official place name that combines two earlier names, or uses both names, often to resolve a disagreement over which of the two individual names is more appropriate. In some cases, the reasons are political. Some ...

Ashley River / Rakahuri by the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. Though the lower reaches of the river are

braided Braided is a musical group consisting of Casey LeBlanc, Ashley Leitão, and Amber Fleury, who all competed on the third season of '' Canadian Idol'' in 2005. They are the third music group to come from an Idol show in the world, after Young Div ...

, part of the upper river flows through a canyon known as the Ashley Gorge. The river emanates from mountains in the west Lees Valley adjacent to Island Hills station and exits the hills at a gorge near Oxford township. It has tributaries of Duck Creek in this valley and is an accumulator of watershed between Lees Valley and Oxford township. Behind Waikuku Beach is one of the largest, least modified estuaries in New Zealand. It is abundant in bird life, including the

wrybill The wrybill or (in Māori) ngutuparore (''Anarhynchus frontalis'') is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand. It is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways in one direction, always to the right (in the crossbil ...

(''Anarhynchus frontalis'') and

Black stilt The black stilt (''Himantopus novaezelandiae'') or kakī (Māori) is a wading bird found in New Zealand. It is one of the world's rarest birds, with 169 adults surviving in the wild as of May 2020. Adult kakī have distinctive black plumage, l ...

(''Himantopus novaezelandiae''). Many migratory birds over-winter here. Surveys from 2000 to 2015, after work to clear weeds and pests, showed significant increases in

banded dotterel The double-banded plover (''Charadrius bicinctus''), known as the banded dotterel or pohowera in New Zealand, is a species of bird in the plover family. Two subspecies are recognised: the nominate ''Charadrius bicinctus bicinctus'', which breed ...

, wrybill, black-fronted tern, and

pied stilt The pied stilt (''Himantopus leucocephalus''), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae. It is widely distributed with a large total population size and apparently stable population trend, occurring in ...

, but

black-billed gull The black-billed gull (''Chroicocephalus bulleri''), Buller's gull, or tarāpuka (Māori) is a Near Threatened species of gull in the family Laridae. This gull is found only in New Zealand, its ancestors having arrived from Australia around 250, ...

spur-winged plover The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (''Vanellus spinosus'') is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is one of several species of wader supposed to be the "trochilus" bird said by Herodotus ...

and southern black-backed gull didn't change significantly.

Floods

In February 1868, June 1905 and May 1923 flooding from this river extended as far as

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimakariri River. It is con ...

. Major floods also occurred in March 1902, February 1936, March 1941, February 1945, January 1953, December 1993 and 2013. of

stopbank A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlin ...

s have been built from the 1930s and have contained the floods since 1953, being enlarged in 1976 and 2018. On the north bank they extend from the railway bridge to the coast and on the south bank to Mount Thomas Road.

Bridges

Cones Road Bridge

The Cones Road Bridge is located at and connects

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

and

Loburn Loburn is a rural community in North Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand. It is located ten kilometres northwest of Rangiora and nearly 50 kilometres north of Christchurch. Loburn is a small community, with no shops. Local industr ...

. It is a 10-span, long bridge, opened in 2015, replacing a 24-span, 1912 bridge, after closure by floods in 2013. It is built of hollow-core concrete beams and has 2 road lanes, 2 cycleways and a footpath. The original bridge was built in 1897. Railway_bridge_over_Ashley_River

Railway Bridge

The bridge opened with the Rangiora to Ashley section of the Northern Railway on 17 April 1875. It was long and built of timber, with 54 spans. In April 1951 a pier and two iron girders were washed away in a flood. It was replaced by a bridge to the east on 18 December 1961.

Main North Road Bridge

The first bridge was completed in 1866. It was initially a toll bridge, but by 1867 had been bought by the Provincial Council. After floods, it was lengthened in 1868. It was rebuilt downstream and long by wide, on 25 reinforced concrete spans, opening in August 1937, after flood damage in 1936. Floods had also closed it in 1870, It is now part of

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

and was repaired and strengthened in 2019.

References

External links

Photos -
pre 1961 railway bridge

pre 1936 road bridge

1936 North Rd bridge being built

1937 photos of old and new bridge
* Cones Rd bridge in 1930s and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Flood in August 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley River Rakahuri Rivers of Canterbury, New Zealand Waimakariri District Rivers of New Zealand