Improving Lewis Pass Route

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 13

Improving Lewis Pass Route

Progress is being made with the first of three contracts which will complete the only unsealed section of the Lewis Pass route to the West Coast. It is between the Rahu saddle and Reefton. This will mark the culmination of about 30 years of continuous improvements on the Lewis Pass highway by the Ministry of Works.

The section now to be completed is five miles and a half between Duffy’s Creek and MacCrae’s Creek along the Inangahua river. A contract has already been let to Avery Bros., Ltd., for about two miles and a quarter of this.

The Ministry of Works plans to start on another one mile and a quarter section this summer.

Plans are being prepared for the reconstruction of the other two miles. The whole route is expected to be sealed within about two years. In addition only about half a mile of reconstruction now needs to be completed on the section of highway between Inangahua and Westport in the lower Buller to give an all sealed route for the 207-mile journey from Christchurch to Westport. One of the biggest blasting jobs done by the M.O.W. on the West Coast is to take place soon to clear a bluff obstruction to complete this part of the project. The Lewis Pass was named by Julius Von Haast after Henry Lewis, chief engineer of the Nelson province. In April, 1860, Lewis and Maling, McKay and Travers explored the area. They were aided by direction from Maoris who long before knew of this pass as the best way to the Coast. The original route leading to the Lewis was a primitive access road as far as the Glynn Wye and The Poplars stations. In the section between these two stations the road was as narrow as 10 feet. Because of more favourable gradients the Lewis was later

chosen as an alternative route to the Arthur’s Pass route. The Lewis was first opened as a highway by Mr Semple, then Minister of Public Works, on October 31, 1937. Since then thousands of man hours and thousands of tons of road metal, sealing chips, bitumen and road oil have been used to improve the Lewis Pass road to its present excellence as a national highway. Since then the Ministry of Works has planned and reconstructed for nearly 30 years so that motorists can today enjoy driving on the smooth sealed surface of the Lewis Pass road. Pick And Shovel Days The building of the highway over the Lewis Pass covers the historic transition from primitive road-making by manual labour to modern construction.

Not many who now use the Lewis Pass route recall that men once worked there with pick and shovel in all weathers for “10s a week and tucker” to form the beginnings of this State Highway. These pioneering road building days on the Lewis Pass are well remembered by a veteran highways engineer, Mr J. B. Jackson. He was engineer-in-charge of the Lewis Pass construction job in 1927. Mr Jackson was also the first to drive a car (his early Model A Ford) over the pass from the Canterbury side when the east-west connexion was made in 1937. Altitude at the summit is 2840 ft. The early stage of the Lewis Pass job was probably the last of the big pick and shovel roading projects in New Zealand.

“It was all hand work and the standard was fairly good with a highway 20 to 24 feet in width but it was not sealed, of course,” said Mr Jackson. “The whole road was done by men with picks and shovels and wheelbarrows. They were a fine lot and firstclass workmen.” For the last 15 miles to the summit of the Lewis they cut through dense, almost continuous beech forest with axe and hand saw before getting down to the job of forming the road.

“In places they moved thousands of tons of rock with wheelbarrows when blasting through Hie big rock bluffs.

“Our first job was improving the access road to the Glynn Wye and The Poplars stations. Then men levelled it with shovels and used river shingle to metal it. “At one stage in the slump between 1930 and 1932 the men in single men’s camps got 10s a week and tucker.”

Continual Improvements

Since then the Ministry of Works has continued to make the Lewis Pass highway safer still by straightening out bends, removing bluffs, widening, realigning, rebridging and sealing.

Every yard of the highway to Greymouth was surveyed and designing the curves, levels and grades has meant hundreds of hours on the drawing boards. A Ministry of Works spokesman said, “A high standard of formation has been maintained on the Lewis. Usually there is a nine inches base course with a three coat seal on top. The first seal is tar and small chips then bitumen spray and larger chips followed by bitumen emulsion and fine grit. “We used to think we had to use a coarser grade of chip but we later found out it was essential to use a fine grit. This is safer because it gives a smoother surface which does not allow pockets of moisture to ice up the road in frosty weather. “It enables the grader to get closer to the surface when getting the snow off in winter. “This has been all the more so up to the top of the pass which is on the shady side. “It is essential that there is

no clay in the road crust. This would collect moisture and make for icing up. We use clear water-washed gravel from river shingle near the site.

“The maintenance problems are quite different these days and rubber tyred rigs have to be used to prevent damage to the fine surfaces.”

Speed and Safety

“The road has been designed to relate speed with safety. “But motorists must remember that in spite of improvements this is not a speed road—it is still a mountain pass. “The road still has low value speed curves which some motorists continue to use at about twice their rated speed. “As we replace the Bailey bridges we get further improvements. We still have six Bailey bridges—we used to have 12. The Lewis Pass surface is designed to remain sound for about 25 years. But the Ministry of Works still has maintenance patrols on the pass seven days a week.

The Lewis Pass area itself has notable sporting and scenic tourist attractions. This has been recognised by a progressive organisation which has already begun construction of an attractively designed tourist village at Springs Junction. Amenities are planned to include motels, hotel and restaurant, maintenance garage, shopping facilities and staff quarters.

The photogrph shows road widening work between the Rahu Saddle and Reefton.