Bridge to open today

Press, 16 March 1982, Page 1

Bridge to open today

Greymouth reporter The Ministry of Works hopes to have the Waitangitaona bridge south of Whataroa open to traffic again this morning. A pier and two spans, totalling 48 metres, were washed away in the flooding in South Westland last week. The gap was closed last evening by. a length of Bailey bridging. A Ministry spokesman said “We have got through to the bridge just to get there and no more, and people have had to realise that the highway is still in a very bad mess.” A jury trial set down for hearing' before Mr Justice Hardie Boys in the High Court at Greymouth today has had to be postponed. The accused, on a charge of arson at Karangarua. south of Fox Glacier, and witnesses are unable to attend because of the closed road. The trial has been postponed to the June session, and all pending jurors have been released. A fresh panel of jurors will be called later. The Director of Reading, Mr T. G. Shadwell, said that the National Roads Board, which administers the

special flood damage fund for road and bridge repairs, had said that the fund would have “no problem” meeting West Coast demands. The fund pays the full cost of repairs to State highway roads and bridges, and subsidises local authorities about $2 for every $1 put up by authorities. Full costs of repairs are paid on special access roads after consideration by the National Roads Board, which sets its own standards of repairs.