Easing Rain Averts More Serious Damage To Bridge

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30338, 14 January 1964, Page 13

Easing Rain Averts More Serious Damage To Bridge

There was a possibility that portion of the Blackball combined road-rail bridge could have been swept away if heavy rain, which has fallen in the Grey district in the last few days, had continued. The bridge was closed after a severe storm last Tuesday night.

A Railways official confirmed yesterday that part of the bridge was in danger if the adverse weather had continued. He said it was too early to say when the bridge would be reopened.

“At the moment we are collecting the necessary gear to effect the repairs," he said. Asked whether the department was relaying the track across the bridge, which one local resident said workmen had appeared to be doing during the week-end, he said that it was possible some sections of the deck were being replaced, but there were no plans that he knew of to replace the rails. Whole Bridge Threatened A .Greymouth man, who visited the bridge site at the week-end, said that one span appeared to have dropped about 4ft. He said that it appeared from his vantage point that if the rain, which abated on Sunday afternoon, had continued, the Whole structure could have been washed away. There was about 24ft of water in one scoured-out hole near the bridge, he said. The Railways spokesman

said he doubted very much whether the whole bridge would have been lost, but it was possible a portion of it could have gone if the rain had continued.

A train-running division official said that a departmental truck had* been seconded to carry bread, papers and small freight to Blackball from Greymouith via the twisting Taylorville back road. He could not say, at this stage, what arrangements had been made to get larger freight items to and from the plateau settlement.

As far as he was aware, the Mines Department had made no approach concerning the cartage of coal from Blackball mine, which reopened yesterday, to Greymouth for further distribution.

The mine relies on railway trucks to bring its product to Greymouth, and if the bridge is closed for any length of time it is possible that production could be affected. A Mines Department official in Greymouth said that the Blackball bins were practically empty for the start of the new mining year. He would not indicate how long it would take to fill them. “That will depend on the production rate, or whether the product would be dumped when the bins were full if the bridge were still closed,” he said.