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ALBUM - Building the viaduct, Otira Gorge 1999.
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DescriptionBuilding the viaduct, Otira Gorge 1999.Date of Photo1999Map[1]
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Location (city or town)Otira GorgeEventBuilding the Viaduct.
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Date Created18th August 2020CommentsMegan Rossiter Best thing that ever happened
Miriam Allan: I remember the road when it wasn't there.
The Zigzag road always made Me sick lol.
Donald Pearson: Great job,now a piece of cake.Jock Allen Did someone loose their life there while building the viaduct?
Keith Kerr: Jock Allen yes they did..not sure if it was more than one...or just the one,I can't quite remember now.
Stu McConchie: Just one I think. Fell if I remember right. There is a memorial Stone somewhere up the devils corner look out I think. Been a few years since I've come ova
Trish Rennie: Was a truck driver got caught between the wall and a concrete beam...RIP
MCambul Russell Two men died round that time 1 at the viaduct the other by the half bridge both subbies to FH
Jock Allen: Thanks Team I thought that there was one person R I P
Jan Blackburn: The first time I drove up the old road I had to give way to downhill traffic and I was so scared doing a hill start that I burst a blood vessel in my- eye! The new bridge and road are amazing!
Dorothy Wills:
A tremendous project that is a great advancement to the road
Tania Newman;
I've been inside the middle bit. Got taken on & off by crane. Awesome‼️ most of Springfield got to do it. Got piks somewhere
Katherine Leafe:
DavidandMaureen Leafe
Simon Dale Sheehan:
Carted crane and gear in and out of there when out smith cranes
Phyllis Aberhart:
I've got some photos in storeage I took whenever I did a retun trip to Christchurch
Robert Wilkinson:
I worked on this viaduct. Very interesting project. But winter was bloody cold. Got stuck on the mountain twice due to snow.
Stuart McMillan:
Iam yet to travel over the new road, hope to do it soon
Daniel Lowe: It cost 25million to build that 20 years ago, that money wouldn't even cover consents and traffic management now. And its not all inflation, its the crazy, inefficient way things are done now that is the problem.
Brendan Stewart: mean.i remember the old road @ 8 years young
Greg Nancekivell: How long did construction take? I remember going to the opening in 1999.
Phyllis Aberhart: Greg Nancekivell I went to it too & walked down part of it. Thrn went home to Blackball watch it on TV & watched Jenny Shipley get caught in the rain during her speech
Shona Simmons: Made this trip many times over the years. My mum always said they took the fun away!! I was always feeling car sick until I got my ice cream cone at Arthur's pass..
Felicity Cowper: Hard work here..........awesome finish.
John Armstrong: Hi all built by McConnell Dowell my wife is David Mc Connells executive assistant his father Buck and Jim Dowell company built it and were at the opening a photo of which is on the wall in the office to this day
David Wood: Loved the old road. This was the first time I drove down the new viaduct in 2017. I think the viewpoint is very similar...
Chevy Aitken: Sue Maree Aitken Cathy Dalzell
Sue Maree Aitken: Chevy Aitken it’s certainly amazing compared to the old staircase, well done Colin Dalzell
Chevy Aitken: Sue Maree Aitken does Cathy Dalzell still have the viaduct sign in her garden
Kerry Wildermoth Back then pricing had death's figured into overall cost of the project. Go figure
Phyllis Aberhart Kerry Wildermoth when I heard that back then I was horrified. Apparently one person died in a crash on the way to work, I 2as told that was added to eork deaths for thr job. Apparently they'd allowed three. Thr first one was a fluke we were told he'd just stepped out from the rock shelter they were building to go to smoko when a rock tumbled down
Kerry Wildermoth Phyllis Aberhart one of the first health & safety courses I did used this project as a example of the poor standard of workplace safety. And how employers placed little value on the life of a employee. Sad but true, profit before safety
Miriam Allan: I remember the road when it wasn't there.
The Zigzag road always made Me sick lol.
Donald Pearson: Great job,now a piece of cake.Jock Allen Did someone loose their life there while building the viaduct?
Keith Kerr: Jock Allen yes they did..not sure if it was more than one...or just the one,I can't quite remember now.
Stu McConchie: Just one I think. Fell if I remember right. There is a memorial Stone somewhere up the devils corner look out I think. Been a few years since I've come ova
Trish Rennie: Was a truck driver got caught between the wall and a concrete beam...RIP
MCambul Russell Two men died round that time 1 at the viaduct the other by the half bridge both subbies to FH
Jock Allen: Thanks Team I thought that there was one person R I P
Jan Blackburn: The first time I drove up the old road I had to give way to downhill traffic and I was so scared doing a hill start that I burst a blood vessel in my- eye! The new bridge and road are amazing!
Dorothy Wills:
A tremendous project that is a great advancement to the road
Tania Newman;
I've been inside the middle bit. Got taken on & off by crane. Awesome‼️ most of Springfield got to do it. Got piks somewhere
Katherine Leafe:
DavidandMaureen Leafe
Simon Dale Sheehan:
Carted crane and gear in and out of there when out smith cranes
Phyllis Aberhart:
I've got some photos in storeage I took whenever I did a retun trip to Christchurch
Robert Wilkinson:
I worked on this viaduct. Very interesting project. But winter was bloody cold. Got stuck on the mountain twice due to snow.
Stuart McMillan:
Iam yet to travel over the new road, hope to do it soon
Daniel Lowe: It cost 25million to build that 20 years ago, that money wouldn't even cover consents and traffic management now. And its not all inflation, its the crazy, inefficient way things are done now that is the problem.
Brendan Stewart: mean.i remember the old road @ 8 years young
Greg Nancekivell: How long did construction take? I remember going to the opening in 1999.
Phyllis Aberhart: Greg Nancekivell I went to it too & walked down part of it. Thrn went home to Blackball watch it on TV & watched Jenny Shipley get caught in the rain during her speech
Shona Simmons: Made this trip many times over the years. My mum always said they took the fun away!! I was always feeling car sick until I got my ice cream cone at Arthur's pass..
Felicity Cowper: Hard work here..........awesome finish.
John Armstrong: Hi all built by McConnell Dowell my wife is David Mc Connells executive assistant his father Buck and Jim Dowell company built it and were at the opening a photo of which is on the wall in the office to this day
David Wood: Loved the old road. This was the first time I drove down the new viaduct in 2017. I think the viewpoint is very similar...
Chevy Aitken: Sue Maree Aitken Cathy Dalzell
Sue Maree Aitken: Chevy Aitken it’s certainly amazing compared to the old staircase, well done Colin Dalzell
Chevy Aitken: Sue Maree Aitken does Cathy Dalzell still have the viaduct sign in her garden
Kerry Wildermoth Back then pricing had death's figured into overall cost of the project. Go figure
Phyllis Aberhart Kerry Wildermoth when I heard that back then I was horrified. Apparently one person died in a crash on the way to work, I 2as told that was added to eork deaths for thr job. Apparently they'd allowed three. Thr first one was a fluke we were told he'd just stepped out from the rock shelter they were building to go to smoko when a rock tumbled down
Kerry Wildermoth Phyllis Aberhart one of the first health & safety courses I did used this project as a example of the poor standard of workplace safety. And how employers placed little value on the life of a employee. Sad but true, profit before safety
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West Coast New Zealand History (7th Jun 2026). ALBUM - Building the viaduct, Otira Gorge 1999. . In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 8th Oct 2026 11:13, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/28314