Makatote Viaduct ...bridge
The Makatote Viaduct takes the North Island Main Trunk railway across the Makatote River. It is 335.7 km from Wellington, at the foot of Ruapehu, in northern Manawatu-Wanganui, between National Park and Ohakune. Wikipedia
Overview
The Makatote Viaduct transformed passenger and freight transport and turned the government railway into a modern main-line system.
Description
The saga of the North Island main trunk railway involved overcoming almost every physical obstacle that could be conceived. The forbidding central North Island terrain had hitherto required travellers from Auckland to take a steamer down the east coast to Wellington or from Onehunga down to New Plymouth to catch a train to the capital. A Christchurch firm won the Makatote Viaduct contract tender in 1905 and completed the structure within three years, using a cableway to lower steel components into place on the 262 metre-long and 79 metre-high viaduct.
The Makatote Viaduct transformed passenger and freight transport and turned the government railway into a modern main-line system. All told there are 23 major viaducts and 26 bridges on the main trunk line. The American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the line a Landmark Award in 1997, so it joined the Eiffel Tower and Panama Canal on a very select list. The best view is from a rest stop beneath the southern piers on SH4 between Pokaka and Erua.
Makatote Viaduct ...bridge
The Makatote Viaduct takes the North Island Main Trunk railway across the Makatote River. It is 335.7 km from Wellington, at the foot of Ruapehu, in northern Manawatu-Wanganui, between National Park and Ohakune. Wikipedia
Overview
The Makatote Viaduct transformed passenger and freight transport and turned the government railway into a modern main-line system.
Description
The saga of the North Island main trunk railway involved overcoming almost every physical obstacle that could be conceived. The forbidding central North Island terrain had hitherto required travellers from Auckland to take a steamer down the east coast to Wellington or from Onehunga down to New Plymouth to catch a train to the capital. A Christchurch firm won the Makatote Viaduct contract tender in 1905 and completed the structure within three years, using a cableway to lower steel components into place on the 262 metre-long and 79 metre-high viaduct.
The Makatote Viaduct transformed passenger and freight transport and turned the government railway into a modern main-line system. All told there are 23 major viaducts and 26 bridges on the main trunk line. The American Society of Civil Engineers awarded the line a Landmark Award in 1997, so it joined the Eiffel Tower and Panama Canal on a very select list. The best view is from a rest stop beneath the southern piers on SH4 between Pokaka and Erua.