350px, Leith Saddle near Dunedin, New Zealand Leith Saddle is a

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

between the sources of the

Water of Leith The Water of Leith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Uisge Lìte'') is the main river flowing through central Edinburgh, Scotland, that starts in the Pentlands Hills and flows into the port of Leith and then into the sea via the Firth of Forth. Name The ...

and the Waitati River, approximately halfway between

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

's northern suburb of Pine Hill and the outlying settlement of

Waitati Waitati, from the Māori language, Māori Waitete, is a small seaside settlement in Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. It is located close to the tidal mudflats of Blueskin Bay, 19 kilometres north of the Dunedin city centre. ...

. At 380m the saddle is the highest point of Dunedin-Waitati Highway, and therefore 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 numbered S ...

in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It traverses a fragile alpine forest. Proposed road works to straighten a dangerous corner here conflict with

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...

values.

Water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

pipelines, and

tramping Tramping may refer to: Travel *Hiking *Trekking Backpacking is the outdoor recreation of carrying gear on one's back while hiking for more than a day. It is often an extended journey and may involve camping outdoors. In North America, tenting ...

and

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

routes also converge at the saddle. The

's source is 100 metres to the south of Leith Saddle, at a height of 380 metres above sea level.Hamel, A. (2008). ''Dunedin tracks and trails.'' Dunedin: Silver Peaks Press. The Leith Saddle Track is a 3.5 hour climb through native

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

to Swampy Spur and Swampy Summit with links to other walkways in the Silverpeaks and Dunedin's hills.Leith Saddle Track
on

New Zealand Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori language, Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand ...

website, retrieved 2009-05-25 The highway has an at-grade intersection at the Leith Saddle summit with Leith Valley Road and Waitati Valley Road. Both have low motor vehicle volumes and have

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

led surfaces, making them attractive to cyclists.

Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand (Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...

signalled a long term intention in 2004 to realign SH1 in the vicinity of Leith Saddle; construction would require removal of some

old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...

The forest here features a species of

Libocedrus ''Libocedrus'' is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera '' Pilgerodendron'' and '' Austrocedrus'', and th ...

, variously called Pahautea, Kaikawaka or New Zealand cedar, ''

Libocedrus bidwillii ''Libocedrus'' is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera '' Pilgerodendron'' and '' Austrocedrus'', and th ...

'', which is unusual in this region of New Zealand.

stated in 2004 that Leith Saddle has 250% more accidents than average for the

New Zealand state highway network The New Zealand state highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Nearly 100 roads in the North Island, North and South Islands are state highways. All state highways are administered by the NZ Transport Agency. The ...

and that the accident rate increased by 50% in the ten years to 2004.

leaflet ''Leith Saddle Realignment'', 2004 They said realignment here would reduce traffic delays, fuel use, crashes, and emissions of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

and

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a poisonous, flammable gas that is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the si ...

. A contour pipeline running southbound over the saddle from several tributaries of the Waitati River feeds two of Dunedin's water supply reservoirs in

Leith Valley Leith Valley is a suburb, valley, and general area of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located to the northwest of the city centre. To differentiate the name of the valley from that of the suburb, the former is usually referred to as ''the'' Le ...

: Ross Creek Reservoir and Sullivans Dam. Treated,

fluoridated Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an Inorganic chemistry, inorganic, Monatomic ion, monatomic Ion#Anions and cations, anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose ...

water is transmitted northwards from Dunedin's municipal water system via a new pipeline to the rural settlements of

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

and

Seacliff Seacliff comprises a beach, an estate and a harbour. It lies east of North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland. History The beach and estate command a strategic position at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, and control of the area has been conte ...

.Water (and fluoride) flows through 'Big Pipe'
on blueskin.co.nz website, retrieved 2009-05-25

References

{{coord, -45.800094, 170.516081, region:NZ-OTA_type:pass, display=title Geography of Dunedin Mountain passes of New Zealand Landforms of Otago Leith Valley

See also

References