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Press, 14 August 1976, Page 1

The Minister of Works and Development (Mr W. L. Young) went underneath the Waiau Bridge yesterday — causing some consternation to the young woman reporter covering the Ministerial visit to the area. She thought that Mr Young’s diversion may have been in the nature of an emergency stop, but a subsequent inquiry found that he was down inspecting the piles of the ageing bridge. He was apparently waiting for a heavy vehicle to come along to see if the bridge shook. Mr Young, who was on his way to open the Waiau water supply scheme, is shown unveiling the commemorative plaque at the

comer of Lyndons Road and Highway 70. Earlier, he had held discussions with the Cheviot County Council, which is worried that with heavy traffic being diverted through the Leader Road, because of the state of the Waiau Bridge, the town of Cheviot may be missing out on shop and hotel trade. After his visit to the bridge, Mr Young was driven through the Leader Road, which is expected to suffer because of the increased heavy traffic diverted over it. The National Roads Board has said that it will meet the cost of any additional road maintenance resulting from the increased use.