THE WAITETE VIADUCT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 88, 14 April 1927, Page 10

THE WAITETE VIADUCT.

WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION.

TO CARRY HEAVY TRAFFIC. AN" ENGINEERING FEAT. i Special to "Star."'i TF. KITTI, April 10. The Auckland-Wellington Main Trunk Railway Line is noted for its wonderful viaducts. These are remarkable not only on account of their extreme height, and length, but also for the scenic beaut v and picture-ipie grandeur confined in the deep canyons and broad ravines which they -pan. I liief among these is the "Makatotc" viaduct—nearby the Ureal National Park—the "Makohini" a mile south of Ohingaiti Railway Station, and the la-;, but not len-t is the Waitctc viaduct, two mil".on the southeiu side of Te Knit;, which is the chief object of this article to describe. Passengers travelling by the Main Trunk express, missing ' these great bridges, seldom, if ever, dwell on the engineering strength or architectural beauty of these line structures. The ■•Waitete" viaduct was erected in the year lsss. nearly forty years a«-.i. Ever since- the Main Trunk line wVopened for through traflic, lighter engines have been used on the section of line between Frankton Junction and Ohakune. With increased and heavier traflic over the steep gradients of the King Country it is now deemed necessarv to use "heavy engines"' over this section, which the Waitete structure was not designed to carry. This was realised during I "the war period, and a project launched to reconstruct the bridge which is constructed almost wholly of wrought iron and plate steel. It was. however, found necessary to abandon the work oxvtng to steel l>ecoming unprocurable. Prices having „ow become nearlv normal the work it at last hei,, 2 eninpletcd. and the viaduct at Waitete is at present being reinforced and reconstruct e,l i„ keeping with modern and economic methods. For some time past a bodv of men have been quietly at work at Te Kumi four miles north of the viaduct, whereby means of „ huge Tngersoll machine the great -steel" plate girders have been m-Ptted together. Passengers travelling south from Te Kuiti towards the end ot last week realised "somcthinwas happening." a* R \\ trains were reduced to a speed of "two miles" an hour when passing ovcr th e hri(l "e. Kvery bolt that could possibly be removed with the minimum element of risk Had been taken away in order that (he «ork might be effected without inter* terence with the traffic. On Sundav m0rn,,,., , atf a< - citizens „f To Kuiti were vet --Wp ,„ "ncine attached to several trucks.' on whirl, were laden the hcavr steel girders," by means of a seven ton

steam crane. glided slowly out into ftc morning darkness. A few minutes later a busy gang of fifteen expert mechanics bad conimoiicc'd the herculean task of placing those two pair- of girders, each fifty-three feet in length by five feci six inches in depth, each span weighing twenty tons, into the position on the concrete base already prepared io receive them. Tii.-e mo!] laboured continuously from "i a.m. 'ill 10.30 p-m----wher the last bolt wa« fastened in tira to allow the Auckland south bound express to pa-:- at KM". p.m_ schedule time. ' The present structure has four spaa each Hm; feet. Kadi -pan contains tsro trusses. in order to economise, font trusses are being u-ed instead of tw» in the centre of the bridge. Thin utilising the (.]<! material ami strengtbening the structure lon jmt cent. Tin old ini-o- were replaced by the ne* -tee! plate girders. The-e were taken on to the bridge complete, and lowered down by mean- of four fnc ton pnlley blocks. By in'-;)n- . i •■nc of those blocks one nian i- able ;o "raise* 1 or "lower"" five ions. Thee "plate girder?'' were run mi to truck* bv a seven ton crane. The truck- then moved forward alone jbp la i|> ~, ■]~. centre of ti« viaduct. Four M-.cn then lifted the?* twenty ton girder- off the trucks br means of tlie four live ton fuller blocks and overhead gantr"e-. Trucks, rail? and sleeiM-r- were then drawn out from under, and the whole -pan of 53 feecentlv lowered down on t•• its "prepare! base."' The \wuk of replacing the sleeper? and rail- then commenced, which. ••» ln-fore Mated, was c-niiplct,.,] in time fo" the first scheduled train to pas- at HW» on Sunday evening. '1 lie main feature of this great work in progress is there is no "fal-e work" or' staging eroded from the ground, the whole of the wort being carried out finm above. It •' estimated the whole vi.idivt will h? completed in -th,. Son,lav-."' The u-,. of the di-m.intied wrongW iron trus-<- will efi.<- a -aving of SO" 9 thousand- ..;' poind-. --..-Hal precaution i» taken for -afely of traffic l? the installation ~f a -i..iia] tablet station r i"bi lie-id.- lb- \..nl-ict at whirl! a man i- in ,-..,,-:.,,• . :-.-idaneo. and if ton.-h with -taiion- north and southT!e „'■„ '. .., ;.,-: -!ind3v-s verr creditable .•,....ii,.-..,ii ■ tc.it «as ™ Afr li,e ~•!-,,.,,! -upon : - .11 o» Mr. Bapr*< di-trie, ,HiKv..v ~,._■-. -r of Ohaknne;,,i<l M...r- T»'i.b>\ . d ?'.' ; i"- a^is« flt engineer-. The ;■<■;:•- • f 0.-cknc" wT ' transformed into .lav b\ means of t*« powerful :..'(«t candle j.owor a cert"*** flares, installed o-i the brink of «* ravine. The foreman. Mr. DnimfflonH. in charge of the men. ha- W yea" jT perience. retiring on completion ol viaduct on •oiper.inir'aii.'U.. The y duct is 424 foot : ". hngth and V2i Wj» from the rails ~f the track shore * the stream bdow. Immediately -*-*■£ the viaduct is the r>op-.ilar mnWT r f m [- ing ground, controlled by the Te Boro'ugh Council, and a sanctuary ' native birds : ,nd , .. .-ted game. claimed bv the \Y..;ioi-.o \crliciatisal"'' Societv. Tin n.b"rn:i..n of engn^ i -ii . , ' -r m**' in- -kill and --, ■■ -■■'' - r . «l:j- a i nil- ■ -■•■: »' 1 ""' r ' hundreds Ot pe..;de "..thorn- «" JJ day la-i to witness the work - 1 - r gTess.