AUCKLAND BRIDGE

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 196, 16 May 1930, Page 9

AUCKLAND BRIDGE

TO SPAN WAITEMATA TIME NOT RIPE The commission which conducted a prolonged inquiry into the proposal to bridge the Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, has reported that the scheme is not warranted. The members of the commission were Messrs. J. Marchbanks (general manager and chief engineer, Wellington Harbour Board), F. W. Furkert (Engineer-in-Chief, Public Works Department), and Captain A. McDonald (retired master mariner and a member of the Otago Harbour Board). The report states that: “The time for the erection of a bridge across the Waitemuta Harbour will not arrive in less than 20 years, although it might be advisable in, say, 10 years to have the position reviewed again.” Five schemes were under consideration, and the commission recommended that were a bridge justified, the prefer able proposal was for a structure running from a point above the Auckland wharves to Northcote, and connecting with Devonport by a causeway and smaller bridges. The cost of the scheme was placed at £1,956,000. The report finds that the existing ferry services are adequate and extremely cheap. The commissioners decided that it could not classify such a bridge as an important national undertaking, and the maximum contribution from the State is assessed at £250,000.