Chch: Why is Carlyle Street concrete?

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nickb800

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#128879 26-Aug-2013 22:44

This one's been bugging me, and I thought someone on here might know the reason for it. Carlyle Street in Sydenham is made of concrete sections, rather than the usual tarseal or chipseal. Never seen anything like it before. Does anyone know why, or what the story is?

No streetview images available, but its clear if you look at it from google maps satellite view

Batman

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#885026 26-Aug-2013 22:47

my guess is they had excess concrete available?

mattwnz

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#885047 26-Aug-2013 22:59

Maybe it was due to the types of vehicles that were going to drive down it. Concrete you can reinforce, so it could potentially take very heavy vehicles. Maybe there is something underground too?

1eStar

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#885050 26-Aug-2013 23:03

Is it really old? There's a few old streets in Auckland they built in concrete.

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#885057 26-Aug-2013 23:27

The US is full of concrete roads. Freeways have overpasses made of concrete, some quite yellow.

lurker

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#885066 26-Aug-2013 23:48

Maybe related to old tram routes if it's really old?

Oblivian

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#885080 27-Aug-2013 01:09

I could be wrong.. But had something to do with some large machines that went Chooo Chooo!

/edit that was lame I shall elaborate

I know it had history with a coke(charcoal) plant and a lot of industrial/train based works there. So its entirely possible they were laid down to cover up some previous track work and was easier than digging it all up. Certainly a question for a historian however.

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nate

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#885088 27-Aug-2013 05:46

1eStar: Is it really old? There's a few old streets in Auckland they built in concrete.

I've also wondered the same thing.

I drive past Mt Eden Prison on the way to work everyday, and the roads around there are all concrete.

BTR

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#885097 27-Aug-2013 07:57

From what I've been told and I can't remember who by was that it was something to do with trains as it was on the opposite side of the old train station (old Science Alive building). I will ask a co-worker and see if I can get a better answer.

blackjack17

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#885103 27-Aug-2013 08:23

Pakuranga Highway in Auckland used to be concrete as well.

I have no idea about Christchurch but my best guess would be the age of it, they used to use concrete, it lasts for every but is expensive to lay and repair when it does have issues

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BTR

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#885106 27-Aug-2013 08:31

Heres your answer. On the northern side of Carlyle street used to be the "C" and "D" freight depot sheds that were used to store freight that was coming and going via the rail station. The reason is was made from concrete as trucks were coming in and out of the depot all day and a normal sealed road wouldn't have been able to handle the amount of traffic.

Hope this helps, the info was from a near retirement co-worker of mine that used to work on Carlyle street in his teens.

nickb800

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#885109 27-Aug-2013 08:40

Thanks for the replies guys, something rail-related makes sense, would love to know the full story, google doesn't have much to say.

I'd be surprised if it was as simple as having excess concrete, as its quite a different surface to maintain and difficult to patch for new services/repairs. I believe that it is quite an old road, but the surface doesn't look that old, perhaps 30-40 years or less (really guessing here)

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nickb800

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#885111 27-Aug-2013 08:41

BTR: Heres your answer. On the northern side of Carlyle street used to be the "C" and "D" freight depot sheds that were used to store freight that was coming and going via the rail station. The reason is was made from concrete as trucks were coming in and out of the depot all day and a normal sealed road wouldn't have been able to handle the amount of traffic.

Hope this helps, the info was from a near retirement co-worker of mine that used to work on Carlyle street in his teens.

Awesome, thanks!