Army to blow up old bridge

Press, 16 September 1976, Page 3

Army to blow up old bridge

A party of 30 Army sappers will demolish the 94-year-old Clarence River bridge at the end of the month.

The new road bridge 200 yards further along the river has been opened and the old one has been offered to the Army to demolish. Rebuilt, propped up and repaired many times in the last 94 years, the bridge now consists of a wooden section about 600 ft long with a steel section for the rest of its length. It is the wooden section which the Christchurch-based 3rd Field Squadron proposes to demolish with explosives supplied by the Ministry of Works and Development. Under the command of

Lieutenant S,- Heaton, of Waihi, the 30 sappers, supported by men of the provost and medical units, will camp in the area from September 27 to October 1 while preparing the bridge for demolition.

It is intended to blow up the bridge between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on September 30. During the demolition a section of the road will be closed to all traffic for 15 minutes.

An Army spokesman said yesterday that an opportunity for the unit to blow up a bridge was rare. What had been learned in theory and practised on models could now be used. The knowledge gained from the exercise would be of great value to the unit, he said.