OVER ARTHUR’S PASS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 March 1929, Page 5

OVER ARTHUR’S PASS

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE,

The following has been written to give those interested some idea of the present condition of the Arthur’s Pass road between Arthur’s Pass and Otira stations.

Very soon after the road leaves Arthur’s Pass station some effects of the earthquake are seen. Of these, the two most noticeable are the Assuring of the road and the loosening of rocks from their hold on the hill-sides. The fissures are mostly longitudinal, hut in a few cases they are transverse. The longitudinal ones are mostly in made up ground and are a half-inch to an inch wide on the Canterbury side, each measuring a considerable distance.

Small stones and big boulders have come to rest on the road, singly or in clusters, at short intervals along the whole strength of road up to the saddle. These obstacles to wheeled traffic, however, are not so great as to prevent easy walking up to the top of the pass. The road along the saddle was little affected. Only on the Otira side of the Pass does very serious damage appear. It seems, from a count made, that falls occurred in forty separate places from the top of the Pass down to the mouth of the Gorge. Of the bigger slips, some have merely blocked the road, but others liave damaged the road in addition; some are wholly of rock, while others bear a tangled mass of trees through which the traveller has to search a way. Some are safe to cross, hut ottiers slope in an unpleasant angle to the river below. In two places concrete walls have been more or less injured. In several places the telegraph poles are broken, and one, it was remarked, lies across the road as though it had been intentionally placed in position as a barrier. The cracks on the Gorge road are in many cases noticeably . wider than elsewhere, reaching a width of six inches. In several places the road, where it was built up on logs, has partly fallen away. Two places were noted where the foot sank into the road, although there was no surface indication of insecurity. The roadmen have already cleared one big slip in tile Gorge, and are now busy blasting away the next. The route is at present utterly uncrossable by horses or vehicles. On Wednesday, at least, one party of pedestrians crossed the Pass southwards, and several parties crossed northwards. A score or more of excursionists walked up to the top from Arthur’s Pass station. These included a number of Hokitika D.H. School girls who were very desirous of passing right through. The description, however, given by the southbound party met on the road near the top was such that it seemed too risky for the girls to attempt the passage of the Gorge, and with great reluctance they had to retrace their steps from the Zig-zag to Arthur’s Pass. Some travellers took to the Otira river bed rather than tackle the slips. Some rock in motion was noticed by the various parties, some was heard, and dust raised by some seen in several places. In one place on the road small peebles fell on one party.

'Hie condition of the Gorge road and the unfinished movement of the rocks render the possible travelling of the. road by pedestrians as a somewhat risky one. The crossing of the larger slips should not be undertaken by any but sure-footed possessors of steady nerve.