RADIO MAST MOVED

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27192, 9 November 1953, Page 10

RADIO MAST MOVED

TRANSPORTATION TO BURNHAM

WORK COMPLETED ON SATURDAY

Except for low telephone.and power lines strung across the road, no difficulties were encountered when the old 3ZB radio mast was moved from its overnight site at New Brighton to Bumham Military Camp on Saturday morniqg. The move was Begun at 5.10 a.m/and finished six hours and 20 minutes later, after a 23-mile journey, most of it in pouring rain. At the corner of Pages and Bexley roads, where the mast had been left after it had been moved from Rawniti Domain the previous day, the men assigned to the job met their first difficulty—a puncture in one of the jockey wheels. The base of the mast, clearing the road by about six inches, had to be let down and a new wheel fitted. The mast was then once more jacked up on to the jockey wheels. Nothing was left to chance in the moving of the mast. In front of the tank transporter, bn which the main weight of the mast was resting, travelled a truck equipped with, two-way radio apparatus. Throughout the journey—when he was not walking— Major E. W. Boyle, officer commanding the operation, was in radio touch with the. driver of the tank transporter, the men stationed on top of the base of the mast and the driver of the truck guiding the jockey wheels at the mast base. Behind this truck was a mobile crane and two trucks of the Post and Telegraph Department. • _

For Major Boyle the first five miles from New Brighton to the city area were the hardest. Because of the low wires he had to wallj in front of the transporter so that he could give instructions as to speed when the wires approached the top of the 18ft base.’ Slung high above the road on the base of the mast, two army electricians guided low wires over the mast. In some cases telephone wires were too low and these had to be cut. No sooner had they been cut, however, than a gang from the Post and Telegraph Department joined them again. Until, the convoy moved into Tuam street from Olliviers road, little trouble had been caused by low wires. At this intersection, however, because of a mound in the middle of the road and low wires, the transporter had to do a series of backing movements before the mast negotiated the corner. Low wires were encountered all the way along Tuam street. Trolley-bus lines at Fitzgerald avenue were raised by a work tower of the Christchurch Transport Board, and similar action was taken at other intersections where tram or bus lines crossed. Once on to Riccarton road—about 9 a.m.—the convoy moved at a sharper pace, and once clear of Sockburn and Hornby the pace quickened to about 10 miles an hour. During this last stage of the journey there was only one incident. Just before reaching Templeton the transporter struck a bump, the shock of which ran along one leg of the bottom part of the base and on to the steering vehicle behind. The shock threw the steering vehicle off line and the mast veered sharply towards the side of the road before it was brought under control. Even at 5.30 a.m. people lined the route and others could be seen looking out of house windows. During the journey through the area controlled by the Christchurch City Council the mast was escorted by a traffic officer, and tv>3 military policemen on motor-cycles helped to control traffic