Durie Hill Elevator, Public elevator in Whanganui, New Zealand.

Durie Hill Elevator is a public lift in Whanganui that connects Anzac Parade beside the Whanganui River with the suburb of Durie Hill. It consists of a 205 m long, 3 m high entrance tunnel (an adit with one entrance), a 65.8 m vertical elevator shaft, and a 9.7 m flat-topped tower at the summit, all built from 2,500 tons of reinforced concrete. The British-built 40 horsepower machinery has a capacity of 500 passengers per hour both ways.

The elevator and its access tunnel were proposed by Wanganui Chronicle editor John Ball and engineering instructor Edward Crow. Contractors Maxwell and Mann began work in 1916, and the lift opened on 2 August 1919. The Wanganui City Council took over operation on 1 June 1942 and still runs it today.

This elevator anchors a planned residential community that took shape in the 1920s, designed to connect hilltop homes with the river valley below. It represents how engineering solutions shaped where and how people chose to live.

Visitors need to walk through the tunnel to reach the lift, so wear comfortable shoes for the journey. The ride itself is brief, but allow time for the full experience as the tunnel walk and elevator trip together take several minutes.

The 40 horsepower machinery was British-built and installed by a firm that had already fitted 180 elevators into buildings across New Zealand. The lift was designed to carry 500 passengers per hour in each direction, and its 500 volts DC initially came from the city tram system; a mercury arc rectifier was added in 1951 after the trams were removed.