NEW KELBURN VIADUCT

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 45, 16 November 1929, Page 10

NEW KELBURN VIADUCT

WORK TO COMMENCE NEXT MONTH

A start is to be made on the erection of the new viaduct at Kelburn next month, the necessary assurance having been given by the Public Works Department. When the matter of calling for tenders was before the council several weeks ago the Mayor. (Mr. G. A. Troup) objected to the work going forward until an assurance was given by the Chief Engineer of the Public Works' Department that the proposed new viaduct would be sufficiently strong to carry tramways. Yesterday the Mayor informed a “Dominion” representative that the required assurance had been given, and the work would now proceed without delay. A tender had been accepted, and as soon as the contract was signed particulars would be available for publication, but certain formalities had .yet to be completed by the engineer’s department. The Mayor pointed out that the viaduct was on a main highway, and the new structure must be strong enough to carry tramways if in the future the City Council decided that it was necessary to run trams that way. If that assurance were not given by the Public Works Department before its construction the engineer-in-chief might decide subsequently, if it were desired, to run trams over it, that it was not strong enough for the purpose. In laying down such tramways the Public Works Department was the authority vested with the approval or otherwise of such work.

The fact that the assurance had been obtained from the Department did not mean that the City Council contemplated running trams over the new viaduct in the near future. It was simply a matter of looking ahead.