Only 1½in. Of Seal Supported Car

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31126, 1 August 1966, Page 1

Only 1½in. Of Seal Supported Car

A motorist who drove across the Hanmer river bridge on the main road to Hanmer Springs early yesterday morning had a close shave —after crossing the northern approach he found the weight of his light English car and trailer had been supported <HTIy by the thin layer of tar-seal. The eroded approach caused the bridge to be closed from 8 a.m. until about 2.30 p.m.

The Automobile Association patrol officer at Culverden, Mr D. Armstrong, said he passed the car and trailer, which were coming the other way, when he was driving towards

the Lewis Pass early, in the morning. Later, he received a radio message that the Hanmer bridge had been closed, and returned to investigate. “I saw this chap' on the other side of the gap, and wondered how on earth he got there. Apparently he had gone across before 8 a.m.—and then found the weight of his vehicle had been supported by nothing but one inch and a half of tar seal,” said Mr Armstrong. The motorist had stopped at a house near the bridge and given the alarm. “They told me he was as white as a ghost,” Mr Armstrong said. When the approach was washed away it took a telegraph pole with it, and toll communications between Christchurch and Hanmer were broken. The line was restored about 11 a.m. The Post Office regional engineer (Mr H. W. Wilkinson) said he had been told the river level had dropped so much by that time that the repair crew were able to walk across.

About three inches and a half of rain fell at the Hanmer bridge during Saturday night, and this melted low-lying snow, which by last evening had retreated to about 4500 ft. The resulting torrent rushing down the Hanmer river washed out the northern approach to the bridge, and Amuri County Council workmen with a front-end loader and a bulldozer worked until mid-afternoon to restore it. The road closure had delayed many cars, Mr Arm- • strong said. Some motorists had waited from early morning until the bridge was opened. The river level falling during the day had facilitated repairs. The heavy rain also caused the closure of the inland Kai-

koura route, which was cut at Crib Creek. It is not expected to open until today. A small slip about two miles from the Hanmer turn-off blocked half the width of the Lewis Pass road, but had been partly cleared last evening. There were fallen boulders on other parts of the road.