DAMAGE TO WAITANGI BRIDGE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 191, 11 May 1938, Page 6

DAMAGE TO WAITANGI BRIDGE

Contract Let For Repairs PEDESTRIANS MAY BE BARRED Dominion Special Service. Napier, May 10. A contract, fur carrying out repairs to the Waitangi Bridge, on tlie main Has-tings-Napier highway, the centre spans of which collapsed during the recent flood, has been let by the Public Works Department to Mr. E. S. Brookes. It is expected that repair work will occupy about three months. The contractor will drive a number of bluegum piles, from which the damaged portion of the bridge will be jacked up. Holes will then be made in the decking, and four sixty-foot concrete piles will be driven each side of the damaged piers to support the spans. It is not known yet whether the work of repairing the bridge will mean that pedestrian traffic will be unable to cross. If the bridge is closed to pedestrians it will interfere considerably with the railway bus services between Hastings and Napier. Since the bridge collapsed bus services have continued on the main highway, passengers walking over the bridge and joining a bus on the other side. If the bridge is closed to pedestrians the bus service will have to be carried on by the Fernhill route, which is a good deal longer. This would mean that Whakatu, Clive and Awatoto residents would be cut out of the service. It is understood that the railway bus department, in the event of pedestrians being denied the use of the bridge, has arranged for services from Napier to Hastings via Fernhill, jvith subsidiary services between Napier "and Awatoto and between Hastings and Whakatu and Clive.

A suggestion was made to-day by the mayor of Napier, Mr. C. O. Morse, to Mr. W. E. Barnard, M.P., that if the bridge were closed to pedestrians the Railways Department could possibly inaugurate a railway service. In the meantime, however, the bridge is still open to pedestrian traffic and there is unlikely to be any change for some days. BUSINESS MEN ALARMED Possible Loss Of Trade Bv Telegraph—Press Association. Hastings, May 10. Napier business men are. seriously alarmed at the possibility of loss of trade with the closing of the Waitangi bridge. A deputation led by the mayor of Napier, Mr. C. O. Morse, interviewed the Hou. AV. E. Barnard, M.P.. and stressed the seriousness of the position. It was suggested that a temporary wooden bridge be erected over half the Waitangi bridge while the other half was being repaired, or that the railway bridge be opened to road traffic. Mr. Barnard replied that although the Public Works Department would repair the bridge a.s soon as possible he would bring the matter before the. Government if a temporary structure were not possible. POULTRYMEN’S PLIGHT Offer Of Assistance From Board Hastings. May 10. who lost their flocks in the recent floods has been received by the mayor of Hastings, Mr. G. A. Maddison, from the New Zealand Poultry Board. The secretary of the board. Mr. J. N. McLean, in a letter to the mayor, said the board had learned that a number of poultry-farmers in Hawke’s Bay had suffered severe losses of poultry, including breeding stock, and the chairman awl members of the board wished to express sincere sympathy wilh those who had been heavy losers. The letter asked Mr. Maddison to furnish a list of names awl addresses of those who lost heavily and the number of poultry lost, stating the breed or breeds, for the guidance of the board in soliciting the assistance of poultry-farmers in other districts with a view to the replacement of the losses by gifts of poultry or eggs for incubation. If Mr. Maddison was unable to furnish asked in the meantime to furnish an estimate of the losses in order to provide a basis for early consideration by the board.