HUTT RIVER IN FLOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 71, 24 March 1926, Page 10

HUTT RIVER IN FLOOD

RAILWAY. BRIDGE PLANT DAMAGED.

The Hutt-River rose about seven feet between 6 and 7 o'clock this morning. The only damage reported occurred at the new - railway bridge, where piledriving is being carried on day and night in an endeavour to have the piles driven before the winter sets in. The foreman (Mr. Barrett) reports that at 5 o'clock this morning the river began to get discoloured, and it was decided to lash down the derrick (which had just been used to drive a pile in midstream), and to get the shingle trucks and other gear to a place of safety. This was done quickly, and everything was left in what was considered a safe position. At 6 o'clock the water came down with a rush, and by 7 o'clock had risen seven feet, and. was up to the decking iof the temporary bridge. When the flood was at its height, two heavy' railway shingle trucks broke away some hundreds of yards above the bridge and. crashed down on the temporary structure. In spite of a battering these trucks and logs, the bridge held practically undamaged. At 7 o'clock the derrick, which was getting the force of the current below the bridge, heeled over. The lashings, however, held to the pile. As soon as the water began to subside men started to clear the debris.; A quantity of timber was washed down the'river,I:but it. is hoped to recover this on the'Petone Beach. . ■ . .■ ■.'■••'■•. Pile-driving in this locality.has been carried on at high pressure, and during the last fortnight fifty 40ft piles have been driven.' Only two piers now remain to be driven.