NEW BRIDGE OPENED

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 287, 31 August 1931, Page 11

NEW BRIDGE OPENED

Manawatu Gorge 410 FEET IN LENGTH Dominion Special Service. Palmerston North, August 29. The new ferro-concrete two-way bridge over the Manawatu River at the Woodville end of the Manawatu Gorge was officially opened to-day by the Hon. E. A. Ransom, Minister of Lands. The bridge, which is 410 feet in length, contains 2500 cubic feet of concrete, and was erected by the Public Works Department at an estimated cost of £lB,OOO. The new bridge, which replaces the old wooden bridge, which has done service for nearly sixty years, is indicative of the immense increase in traffic in recent years. In' declaring the bridge opened, the Hon. E. A. Ransom described it as an important link, expressing amazement at the progress that had been made during the past 100 years. The former bridge was one of the finest ever built in the Dominion, and the present structure would give service for many years to come. In stating that he always had occasion to feel proud of the work which was being carried on, he expressed the opinion that it was questionable whether the expenditure involved was warranted. In pointing out that the future of the Dominion depended on the primary products, Mr. Ransom said that more money would be spent on reproductive works, and the bearing of the cost of the erection of the bridge by the Highways Board would enable the local bodies to utilise the money in this way. In replying later to the toast of the Hon. the Minister of Lands, proposed by Mr. Granger, Mr. Ransom said that the total amount expended annually in road maintenance was £6,933.429, and it made him wonder whether such expenditure was warranted in such a young country. “The Highways Board are not in a position to reduce, rates or lessen expenditure,” he said. “Under the present system of motor traffic the maintenance of the roads is more than the original cost. Had the Highways Board not been instituted the rates would have been doubled." He also advocated the opening up of the back country to enable people to take up reproductive work. The success of the farmers,” he said, depended on increased production. Intensive farming under the rotation system was the way in which the land could and was being improved, he said. Referring to the hydro-electric works. Mr. Ransom said that the Government of the moment had to look for works that would be reproductive, and the hydro system would not be a cost but a source of revenue. “We must make the expenditure more of a reproductive nature.”