New chapter in long story

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33934, 29 August 1975, Page 11

New chapter in long story

A new chapter has; opened in the long story: about the use of the gully to the north of the Christchurch - Lyttelton Road Tunnel Authority’s administrative building at Heathcote.

For 10 years, there were plans to create an ornamental pond. More than $BOOO was spent building a concrete upstand. then removing the concrete upstand at the direction of the Christchurch Drainage Board and reinstat- ; ing the original watercourse. I Now, a slip on the south-

ern side of the toll plaza ac-i cess route from Heathcote,' which came very close to; taking the road with it, has: caused a new round of discussions, this time to: strengthen the embankment and reduce the danger of more slips during heavy rain. l Fill was carted away at the instruction of the Christchurch Drainage Board, at a cost of thousands of dollars: some of it will have to be returned, if any of the schemes forwarded to a meeting of the authority on Wednesday by its consulting engineer (Mr Bill LovellSmith) are accepted by the; Drainage Board. 1

In the process of removing fill dumped for work on the ornamental pond, the embankment to the Heathcote toll plaza access was weak-i ened by soil recomposition. The authority thus expects i to have to close the access road in the event of more heavv rain, as the top soil on the embankment is already loose and wet. and would not' need much to i mate it move again. The authority was concerned yesterday that in the event of heavv rain, road subsidence might occur while it was carrying traffic. i There were no temporary I solutions to the problem, Mr

Lovell-Smith told the authority. An estimate of either of two schemes he proposed to cure the slipping would cost anything from $BOOO to $lO,OOO, allowing for a 100 per cent miscalculation. A voice: I hope the miscalculation is in our favour. Mr Lovall-Smith proposed two schemes, both of which would require filling, culvert extension, and crib-walling. The authority asked him to prepare plans, consult with ' the Drainage Board, and prepare estimates of cost.