Otira Gorge Road Being Improved

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31568, 4 January 1968, Page 8

Otira Gorge Road Being Improved

(From Our Own Reporter)

GREYMOUTH, January 3. The Ministry of Works has begun to improve the Otira Gorge route to Canterbury and expects to complete the job by winter.

The ministry is using its allocation for this financial year and the next one, and has $34,000 to spend, $lO,OOO of which will probably be used in improving the zig-zag section of the road.

area with such a high rainfall.

The final answer, when finance was available, was to seal the road without waiting for a high standard of alignment. However, the roa(l was much better than it was a few years ago.

Though this work will improve the section between Arthur's Pass and Otira, the subject of recent criticism by businessmen in the two townships, the Ministry of Works resident engineer at Greymouth (Mr H. A. Grigg) said that until the road was sealed it was unreasonable to expect a high-standard surface in an

One of the major jobs will be on a very narrow 600 ft section on the Otira side of Reid’s Falls.

Commenting on criticism of the recent condition of the road, Mr Grigg said that November had been the wettest at Otira for 48 years—since records bad been kept In that month 52.81 in of rain had fallen. In the 11 months to the end of November 232.99 in bad fallen, compared with the average of 202 in. Between November 1 and December 4, on the section between Aickens and Otira, 35,000 cubic yards of soil had had to be removed from the road after wash-outs and slips. Repairs in this period had cost an additional $9700. In September and October, 2500 yards of metal had been placed on the road. These figures, said Mr Grigg, emphasised the difficulties in maintaining a reasonable metal surface in the high rainfall.