THE NEW HUTT BRIDGE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 302, 15 September 1908, Page 9

THE NEW HUTT BRIDGE.

A MUCH-NEEDED WORK. 1074 FEET IN LENGTH. A work of somo importance to the Lowor Hutt and Petone, and certainly a great convenience to ■ thoso having business in tho western side of the Valley, is tho new Hutt Bridge, which'is to supplant tho structures known as tho pipo -bridges, and at the same time serve as a highway for traffic across the sprawling bed of the Hutt River to tho westward of Petone. The plans for this bridge havo been prepared in tho City Engineer's office, and tenders are to bo called forthwith. Tho structure, as designed, is a dock bridgo of hardwood, resting on clusters of cylindrical reinforced -.concrete piers (each sft. in diameter), placed at a distanco of 84ft. from one another. 'There <aro six 84ft, water spans, and there are alternate designs for tho land spans—l 9 spans of 30ft. each, or 25 spans of 35ft. oacly according to tho method i of construction. This provides, for a bridge 23ft. wide between the rails, with an 18ft. roadway and a' footpath -Jf6. •in width. Tho typo of bridge designed is new to Wellington. The superstructure' will rest' ; on tho clustered piers. The only portion of -tho structure rising above the floor or roadway 1 will be the guard rails 011 each' side. Tho beams, tio braces,-etc., will bo in-massive hardwood, and the two rows of big water-mains that; aro to form a section of . the duplicate mains' between the Waimii-o-inata reservoirs'and the city will be laid on longitudinal beams resting on the : bottom choras of tho' superstructure. The deck; of the bridge will be 26ft. above the level of the river at high water, and the land'spans'will be slightly inclined. -The cost of the' bridge'is being defrayed by tho City Council, the Hutt, Pqtono, and Eastbourne Borough Councils, and the Hutt County Council, according to a proportionate Bcalo agreed upon. • ' V . The movement to erect a new bridge over the Hutt ■River .arose in consequence, of tho carrying away of one of the pipe bridges two years ago, when for a day or two the city \ was cut off from the Waihui supply until the repairs could be' effected—riot a very easy matter, as-the cause, of the accident—the river in heavy flood—mado the work of replacing the lost section of the bridge a hazardous and extremely awkward task. It was recbgnised then how ridiculously ; shortsighted it was for a city -like 'Wellington to be at tho mercy of a frail structure such as tho pipe bridge, .which had to bo continually watched and strengthened to .prevent recurrences of the disaster. A traffic bridgo was badly needed at the point, so tho local bodies combined to erect a substantial structure that would servo a double purpose, Tendors are. being, called. for tho new dam at Solomon's Knob (Wainui), and tho duplication of the main' must follow closely upon the completion of that-work, and the straightening of the Hutt Road,'along which it must . travel to the . city.-, Tho now bridge 1 is designed to give two'.mains safe conduct over the Hutt River. /