Maungawhau/Mt.Eden Tihi Boardwalk

Showcasing an award-winning sacred site.

A wahi tapu (sacred site), Maungawhau (Mt Eden) holds huge cultural and historical significance for Tāmaki Makaurau, and attracts over a million tourists each year.

HEB was brought in to build a new summit walkway for the maunga and create a world-class visitor experience, while improving resilience. This boardwalk was designed to blend in, not dominate the landscape, following Mt Eden’s natural undulations and providing world-class views of the city. Built with care, it provides easy access to the tihi (summit) while protecting it for generations to come.

Our work

Installation – a new highly durable steel frame boardwalk with a combination of timber and web forge cladding, providing the highest protection possible for this sacred site.

Upgrade – repairing sections of damaged track, and removing the communications building as part of site rehabilitation.

Award-winning infrastructure
The Maungawhau / Mt Eden Tihi Boardwalk has won two Registered Master Landscapers – Landscapes of Distinction Awards;

Sustainable Outcomes

Maungawhau is a significant cultural sight, and we were honoured to be able to work on this special project. Maungawhau is said to be the home of Mataaho, the atua deity associated with Tāmaki Makaurau’s volcanic cones and basalt fields. Given this context, we worked closely with the client and iwi partners to ensure sensitive care was taken during the project, including hand-digging and relocating aggregate from historic kumara pits to avoid damage.

We also took care to reduce our impact on the Mt. Eden community. The original project tender called for the use of a helicopter to drop materials onto the project site. We proposed a method of hand delivery instead, as it would be quieter and more cost-effective, not to mention it created additional job opportunities.