The section of line between Napier and Wairoa passed through difficult country, requiring heavy earthworks, five tunnels, five high steel viaducts to cross deep gorges, and numerous other bridges.

[3] The Government of the day faced major financial problems following the 1929 stock market crash in the US, and the onset of what would become the Great Depression of the 1930s.

[3] The viaduct was designed by John Lelliot Cull and William Langston Newnham, both of whom worked in the PWD head office.

It is built of mild steel components, which were prefabricated at the Public Works Department Workshops at Mount Maunganui, near Tauranga, shipped to Waikokopu, and railed to the construction site.

[7] Following severe storm damage between Wairoa and Gisborne, and doubts about financial viability of the line, the northern portion of the line from Napier – Gisborne was reviewed as part of KiwiRail's turn-around plan, and was effectively mothballed north of Wairoa in early 2012.