RAILWAY EXTENSIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 165, 14 July 1928, Page 16

RAILWAY EXTENSIONS.

KIRIKOPUNI-DARGAVILLE.

CAMP AT TANGOWAHINE.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

DARGAVILLE, Thursday.

Activities are evident in preparation for the work on the Kirikopuni-Darga-ville branch railway. A camp to accommodate upwards of 100 men will shortly bo established at Tangowahine, eight miles from Dargaville, on the route, of the new line. A° dwelling for the staff lias been erected and materials are on the ground for the construction of a number of cottages. The dragline is making good progress through the Opiako swamp and a start has been made below the school on the formation' and drains, which will be continued tlirough to meet the dragline, thus draining an area on the route of the line.

One of the first works which will receive attention after the gazetting, expected shortly, of the route of the railway from Tangowahine to Dargaville will be the construction of a new traffic bridge over the Tangowahine stream, to replace the present structure which is in the direct route of the new line. It will be necessary, therefore, to construct a new highway before the railway may proceed. Formation on the Tangowahine-Dar-gaville section of the line does not present any great engineering difficulties, and it is probable that a camp will be established in Dargaville within a few months of the decision on the route to be followed.

Officers of the Public Works and Railway Departments have- recently made thorough investigation of the alternative routes and an early decision is expected.

On* the Parakai-Kirikopuui highway, which gives access to a large area of country to the present railhead at Kirikopuni work by the Public Works -Department is proceeding apace, and, despite adverse weather, excellent progress has been made^ At the viaduct all the steel work is in position and the hardwood stringers and decking is now being laid. Upwards of seventy men, including lorry drivers, are employed on the road between Kirikopuni and the viaduct. Metal for the two miles of.unfinished road beyond the viaduct to the Maunga-tapere-Kaikohe main highway will be railed from the Public Works Department's quarry at Taurajoa.