FLOOD WORK ON HAPUKU

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31982, 8 May 1969, Page 10

FLOOD WORK ON HAPUKU

Protection Of Railway A Government contribution up to $90,000 for a comprehensive scheme of flood protection works on the Hapuku River.north of Kaikoura, had been approved 'b® the departments/ concerned and the Cabinet works committee, the member of Parliament for Marlborough (Mr Shand) said yesterday.. Criticism of the vulnerability of State highway No 1 and of the South Island main trunk railway had been concentrated principally on the Ure River bridge, he said. He had been even more seriously concerned about the Hapuku and Clarence Rivers. A flood damaging the Ure RivCr bridge would be a considerable inconvenience to the district, and at all times the bridge in its present state was an inconvenience to motorists, Mr Shand said..A big flood in the two major rivers could cause damage of such magnitude that restoration would take months. The decision to give priority to a new State highway bridge across the Clarence could lessen the danger there. When the bridge was relocated there would be action to protect the north abutment to reduce the tendency of the river to swing violently against the soutb abutment of the railway bridge, which was the most vulnerable point on the South Island main trunk railway. Mr Shand said the highway bridge over the Hapuku was not considered vulnerable to flooding, but there was a grave risk that the railway line might be breached north of the present railway bridge. 1