ROAD TO COAST

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30143, 29 May 1963, Page 17

ROAD TO COAST

Bad Spot (From Our Own Reporter; GREYMOUTH. May 28. The bridge erected by the Ministry of Works at Candy* Bend on the Otira Gorge route between Canterbury and the West Coast has undergone a sut i ties fill test and it is believed that the bridge will eliminate this trouble spot, which has been notorious in wet weather in recent years. The test was made when heavy rain fell in the area—--15 inches in six hours —and it came through well, said the resident engineer for the Ministry of Works in Greymouth, Mr H. A. Grigg, yesterday. He explained that the bridge is a temporary construction made out of secondhand material because the National Roads Board is not spending much money on this reading stretch at present, the greatest concentration of finance and labour being on the Lewis Pass route.

The bridge structure provides a thoroughfare across the sharp comer of the road at Candys Bend, leaving a gap in the elbow where the road is most exposed to debris from the shingle fan above. Future falls will tumble to the river below, inside the elbow, without interfering with the bridge or traffic.

The bridge, which is 40 feet wide, rests on steel girders and has crib-logging on both sides. There are stepped retaining walls which will allow water and material from the shingle fan above the road to pass safely underneath and down to the river. In the past this material washed down on the road and it did not take much to block the route.