As you near the top of Arthurs Pass from Otira, you meet the road sections that were most difficult to build and maintain. One brief section passes under a rockfall shelter and a flume that diverts the Reid Falls. After that, you hit Candys Bend, where you can take photos of the gorge, shelter and flume, and possibly a kea or two. Next, you will cross the Otira Viaduct with another viewpoint on the south side at Deaths Corner.
Today, with the viaduct, it is not obvious how hard it was to build and maintain this road. But if you look at the mountain slip to the right of the viaduct from Deaths Corner and note that the road once ran across the top of the slip, with all the problems of melting snow, you get the idea.
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