RAKAIA RAILWAY BRIDGE
Longest In New Zealand USED FOR FIRST TIME YESTERDAY By Telegraph—Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, December 12. Without any ceremony the new railway bridge over the Rakaia River was opened to traffic for the first time today. The bridge is the longest railway structure in New Zealand, being 5720 feet in length. The change-over from the 60-year-old wooden structure was made by the passage of the Christchurch-Invercargill express at 9.56 a.m. and a mixed train from Ashburton, which passed over file new bridge at 12.30 p.m. Once customary precautions tire observed in regard to the passage of trains over the newly-constructed lines there will be no"speed restriction over the new bridge. Trains will be able to travel at a normal speed of 50 miles an hour, compared with a maximum speed of 20 miles an hour allowed on the old bridge. The new bridge, which originally was estimated to cost £85,000, has been built a short distance upstream from I lie existing wooden structure.
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Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 68, 13 December 1939, Page 7
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165RAKAIA RAILWAY BRIDGE Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 68, 13 December 1939, Page 7
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