BAILEY BRIDGE IN USE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25082, 14 January 1947, Page 5

BAILEY BRIDGE IN USE

TRAFFIC TO TRENTHAM RACECOURSE ” The Press ” Special Service

WELLINGTON, January 13. Motorists going to the Wellington Racing Club’s summer meeting at Trentham on Saturday, the first since petrol rationing was lifted, found a Bailey bridge across the creek alongside the permanent bridge. This allowed two lines of traffic to travel north to the race meeting without obstructing the ordinary south-bound traffic.

The bridge, 11 feet by 80 feet, was erected by the Main Highways Board, who also marked the highway from the Taita Gorge-Western Hutt road junction to Howell’s Corner into four lanes especially for the race meeting. The work was undertaken at the request of Mr J. H. R. Semple, Chief Traffic Inspector.

A • Public Works Department engineer and six labourers stood by the Bailey bridge to maintain the approaches, which were of unsealed metal. Recent rain had made the ground soft. “We had 10 patrol cars, five of them with loud-speakers, and 19 traffic inspectors to control the race meeting traffic," said Mr Semple. “I do not know how many cars there were, but certainly there were many more than at the recent Palmerston North race meeting on Labour Day, when we handled more than 3000. “If the traffic became too congested on Camp road I had a traffic inspector to divert the line along Sutherland road. But the greatest difficulty of this point duty man was to convince motorists that the by-pass would lead them to their destination.”