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South Island Bonding

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, May 10. Estimates of £3,276,130 for the 1962-63 year for State highways in the South Island were approved by the National Roads Board today. The sums approved included: No. 11 district (Nelson and Blenheim), £415,000; No. 12 (West Coast), £728,000; No. 13 (North Canterbury), £329,130; No. 14 (Central Canterbury), £300,000; No. 15 (South Canterbury), £236,000. In the Nelson-Blenheim district maintenance remains practically the same as last year at £153.860, including £23,700 for 16 miles of reseals. Extension of sealing takes £34,000, of which £25,000 is to complete the last gap in the seal at McCartney’s Hill, Golden Bay, Also included is £9OOO to finish a 3.3-mile extension of seal on the Tophouse highway. Nelson Sealing

Reconstruction of sealed highways takes £77,600, of which £54,600 is on the Havelock and Canvastown section of State highway 6. £16,000 in Nelson city, and £5OOO for a deviation at Spooners Hill, where the road runs between two old concrete railway bridge abutments. On the Havelock-Can vastown section, which the board has given high priority, there remains 4.7 miles of reconstruction. Last year £71.000 was approved in the estimates, but this was reduced to £56,000 to provide money for the Whakamaruia bridge, which was falling down. Of this, only £32.000 was spent.

Works authorities recommend that the district should concentrate more effort on this job, get it finished, and then get on to the southern highways of the Shenandoah and the upper Buller section of State highway 6, south of Murchison.

Twelve minor bridges will be reviewed this year. Token amounts are provided for three large bridges for renewal, the 250-ft Longford bridge, the 600-ft Waitapu bridge over the Takaka river, and the 500-ft branch bridge on the Tophouse road. The district roads commissioner recommended that £13,000 should be spent widening round some bluffs on the Shenandoah highway. The board recommended that Havelock-Canvastown widening should have full priority.

Haast Road The total maintenance allocation for the West Coast district at £262,350 is £lB.OOO down on last year, but general maintenance is £6OOO higher, the over-all reduction being due to a smaller expenditure on major bridge repairs. The biggest single construction item in the district is the new highway south to Haast, to which £ 133,000 is allocated to match the £267,000 contribution from roads vote. The reconstruction of the Lower Buller gorge section of State highway 6 will take £50,000, and another year is expected to see the completion of this project, after which the district will concentrate on improving the Upper Buller section. The sum of £25,000 is allocated for further sealing on the Lewis Pass.

A large part of the West Coast allocation is taken up with bridge renewals, which require £139,200. Large bridges which will be under construction include the Big Wanganui (1095 ft Parkers (160 ft ’ and Indhgahua (300 ft Ten other bridges will be started.

The board’s special recommendations include £lO,OOO for the Smith street deviation in Greymouth and an additional £14.000 to complete a 12ft eight-mile seal between Barrytown and Punakaiki.

Total maintenance from North Canterbury is slightly down on last year—£l3l,2lo compared with £133,441. General maintenance is 10 per cent. up. The over-all decrease is due to heavy bridge repairs last year. The sum of £27.650 will be spent on 20 miles of various types of reseals. The extension of sealing is Confined to State highway 7. where £22,000 is allocated to continue the seal on the Christchurch side of the Lewis Pass further towards the summit. The reconstruction of sealed highways absorbs £16.000, of which £12,000 is on State highway 1, north of Waipara. The main feature of the North Canterbury programme is bridging—a feature which will be prominent for some years. At £122.000. bridge renewals take up 67 per cent, of the total construction programme, leaving less than £60.000 for road improvements on 263 miles of rural highways

Hurunui Bridge The main item is the £130.000 Hurunui . river bridge. The district office has allowed £60,000 for this year in the anticipation that delays in supply of precast deck beams would push the comoletion date well into 1963. The situation has. however, suddenly changed for the better. and the district commissioner of works and the contractor are now confident that Christmas will see the bridge ready for traffic. The board added its recommendation that an extra £16.000 be approved for the approaches to Hurunui bridge "to avoid the new bridge being an exhibition only for several months.” Allocation Down

The reduction of £19.000 in the total maintenance allocation for the Mid-Canter-bury district as compared with last year is due to a drop of £22.000 in the amount provided for reseats General maintenance is also down by over £ll,OOO, but the district is faced with a heavy bill for major repairs to the Waimakariri river gorge bridge on State highway 72 (£14,000), formerly a combined road-rail-bridge.

The bridge was built in 1877. Most of the timber decking is described as “dozey.” Only £5140 is devoted to new sealing, completing two lengths totalling seven miles of highway 73. Two deviations on the sealed section of the Akaroa highway at Culverts will cost £37,500. The bridge renewal programme takes £28.100. The Kowai bridge on the Otira road will be finished this year, at a total cost of £18.300. The sum of £5OOO is allocated for a start on the replacement of the Eyre river bridge in Oxford county The district commissioner of works recommends .early replacement of this bridge with a one-way structure 460 feet long and costing £37.000. Expensive Bridge

Another expensive bridge replacement coming up is the £45,000 Fitzgerald avenue bridge on highway 1 in Christchurch. The sum of £lOOO is allowed for this on account, but a “harder look" is recommended.

About 42 per cent, of the estimates for this district. £820.150 is earmarked tor special urban works mostly from Colombo street outwards along Blenheim road, on reconstruction, widening, median strips and the like. Vote Up Over-all maintenance in South Canterbury is slightly up on last year at £125.444. due in the main to a big increase in reseals on which the district proposes to spend £40,000 over 24 miles. There is a fairly heavy programme of bridge renewals, £53,886 for nine bridges, four of which were started last year. The sum of £25,000 is voted for the Upper Orari bridge. 720 ft long, which is estimated' to cost £60.000, and which is to be financed next year.

A start is to be made on the Ashburton river north branch bridge (£7OOO on account of £50.000). The widening of bridge and approaches, estimated at £12,500, will cost £17.000. Corner improvements in Timaru city get £5OOO.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19620511.2.10

Bibliographic details

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29819, 11 May 1962, Page 3

Word Count
1,115

South Island Bonding Press, Volume CI, Issue 29819, 11 May 1962, Page 3

South Island Bonding Press, Volume CI, Issue 29819, 11 May 1962, Page 3

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