FLOOD REPAIRS ON NORTH ROAD

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27306, 24 March 1954, Page 7

FLOOD REPAIRS ON NORTH ROAD

Sir, —The long delay in replacing one small bridge at Woodend and one culvert at Waikuku is a puzzle to many. It is over a year and a month since the flood. There have been some unpleasant accidents and quite an amount of minor damage done to cars on the temporary Bailey bridge. As the whole of Canterbury’s northern road traffic passes over this bridge one would expect the resources of the Ministry of Works and the Main Highways Board could have replaced it within three months. Those behind the road safety campaign should bring their weight to bear. It is a matter of “time being the essence of the contract.”—Yours, etc. D. S. MACKENZIE. Scargill, March 3, 1954.

[When this letter was referred id” the Acting District Commissioner of Works (Mr F. D. Grant) he said that a contract had been let for the renewal of this bridge .on September 7, 1953, and it was to have been finished by December 7. As the contractor had not then made muph progress an additional low level crossing was made downstream to provide for southbound traffic. Unfortunately, in the end the department had to take steps to wind up the contract and had recently become legally clear to let a fresh contract. New tenders had now been called, closing on Thursday next, one condition being an almost immediate start. For normal by-pass purposes at a bridge under construction the pro Vision made should have been satisfactory at reasonable speeds, the approaches having adequate notices. The bridge, however, was a long, high speed straight and, in spite of reasonable signs, careless driving had resulted in a number of accidents. As there would still be a construction period before the bridge was completed, an additional low level by-pass on the upstream side of the bridge was being added. Reflecting signs visible for a long way on either side of the bridge were also being erected, so that there should be no reasonable excuse for accidents in the future. The Bailey bridge would be retained for use in case of floods only.]