NEW BRIDGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 72, 26 March 1932, Page 10

NEW BRIDGE.

MANGAWARA STREAM.

PREVIOUS « DEATH-TRAP."

DANGER TO MOTORISTS.

A new reinforced concrete beam type bridge is to be built over the Mangawara Stream, near Taupiri, "to replace the present* structure which for years has been a "death-trap" to motorists. The contract has been let by the Public Works Department to Messrs. J. T. Julian and Sons, and the contract price is £5500. Work on the new bridge will start after the Easter holidays. About 20 men will be engaged, and it is expected that the work will be completed in about eight months. Part of the contract will be to pull down the old bridge, which has been the scene of many serious accidents and several fatalities. The new bridge will consist of five spans each of 45 feet, and the total width will be 32 feet. There will be a traffic. deck 24ft wide and a 4ft wide footpath. Kerbs and concrete parapets will make the total width 32 feet. Piles and pier-heads will be made of reinforced concrete, and the bridge will be built high, enough to allow river traffic to pass underneath without difficulty. For the motorist the outstanding feature of the new bridge will be the fact that it is being built on an easy curve with a six-chain radius. The fact that the old bridge is on an awkward ano'le has been the cause of many accidents. The new structure will be canted one inch to a foot, which means that one side will be two feet higher than the other. Th<* bridge-has been designed and will t», constructed under the supervision of th» Public Works Department, who will act on behalf of the Main highways Board. The Waikato County Council will pay one-third of the cost, which is the usual quota paid by county councils ior highway bridges. "The present bridge is one of the old type right-angle structures, and for a time past it has been regarded as a

particularly dangerous point," said Mr. R. E. Champtaloup, touring manager of the Auckland Automobile Association. "The bridge is of the type which is fast disappearing from New Zealand owing to the energetic influence of the Main Highways Board.

"When completed the new bridge will provide a much greater degree of safety because the approaches will be on an easy curve and will not be liable to trap the unwary motorist in the same manner as the sharp-angle approaches to the present structure. Motorists who frequently use the road to Hamilton will be delighted."