BRIGHTON BRIDGE

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18724, 22 June 1926, Page 8

BRIGHTON BRIDGE

CLEARANCE ABOVE WATER-

LEVEL.

ORIGINAL PLANS TO STAND. At last night's meeting of the New Brighton Borough Conncil, the Mayor (Mr J. Gamble) stated that a conference of members of the Christchurch City Council, Heathcote County Council, and New Brighton Borough Council, with regard to a proposal or suggestion from the City that the bridge to be erected across the arm at Sea View road should be raised a further three feet more than that provided for in the plans prepared by the engineer, Mr Toogood, which had been approved and adopted. It was felt that, even if the raising was favourably considered, which was not at all probable, then the City Council would have to bear the whole of the increased cost entailed in the raising. The Mayor of Christchurch was not prepared to commit his Council to anything further than that agreed upon. The result of the conference was that the bridge must be built in accordance with the plans submitted and approved. The Mayor moved: "That the tender of Mr G. L. Bull be acceptdc, that tho Tramway Board be informed of the price for dismantling the , old structure (£190), and that the work be proceeded with as soon as possible." In seconding the resolution, Cr. Shaw said that they had done all they could to raise tho bridge as high as possible. The resolution was carried unanimously.

SHARING THE COST. CITY COUNCIL'S OFFER. By a resolution which it carried last, evening, the City Council expressed its willingness to meet its 6hare of the cost of the proposed alterations to the New Brighton bridge, to give it & greater clearance at high tide. The Mayor reported on the conference held during the afternoon at New Brighton. Or. E. H. Andrews said they had failed to come to any definite agreement with the New Brighton Borough and Heathcote County Councils. It was a question of the additional cost. The engineer to the New Brighton Borough Council had reported that the cost of raising the bridge and approaches, so as to give the necessary grade of one in twenty, would be about £2OOO. The question arose as to whether they were prepared to make an offer to the New Brighton Borough Council, which would have to carry a good deal of the cost. The Mayor had assured them that a satisfactory tender had been received for the work. He had pointed out to them that the bridges further up the river were only a foot or eighteen inches higher than the one it was proposed to build, but the City Council's representatives had skated that these were old wooden structures. Cr. Andrews moved a resolution expressing the Council's willingness to meet its quota of. the extra cost in making a higher bridge. Cr. C. Carr seconded the resolution. "We should express regret at the continued determination of the New Brighton Borough Council to adhere to the original plan," he said. It was a very disastrous decision, and a very strong protest should be made, to show future generations that the Council oould foresee that difficulties would arise., if the bridge was built on the original plan. The resolution was carried, Or. A. McKellar dissenting.