EPIC ROAD-MAKING

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 96, 20 October 1934, Page 8

EPIC ROAD-MAKING

PLANNING MILFORD WOEK

FIFTY MEN TO JOIN GANG

TUNNEL THROUGH GRANITE

Making a road with justcr claim to fame than tho road to Mandalay, 150 men arc working steadily in the narrow valley of the Hollyford Eivor, cutting n, roadway out of dense forest, liommed in by mountains rising thousands of feet above them. The workers are fifty'iivc miles t'Mm the To An.au end of tho Milford Eoad, which in tho main is still in the blue-print stage. In a month fifty more men will be tit work, making the gang 200 strong. Tho now men will come from Waitaki .upon tho finishing of the big hydroelectric dam. Eight miles from the present scene of work is the sheer face of the Homer Saddle. By May or June of next year the forces of man and machines will drill and hew a sixty-chain tunnel into the rocky wall. That will bo one of the hardest tunnelling jobs ever done in New Zealand. A sample of the rock was shown to a '' Post reporter by a Public Works Department engineer today. Even seen on the mantelshelf that piece of rock speaks of Vulcan and sparks. It is known as norite, a kind of granite of groyish colour. Two clean drill-holos proved the rock to bo very close and oven in grain. ESTIMATED COST A SECRET. A full winter spent on tho task may see the penetration of the mountain by at least it, preliminary hole for ventilation purposes. In about two years and a half the Tourist and Publicity Department will be able to tell a plain tale which to strangers might savour of j boasting. Tho long-vision'cd To AnauMilford Hostel Eoad then will be realised. Tho estimated cost is a secret so far as tho Department is concerned. One figure was mentioned in the Houso of Representatives by a member not in possession of official advice—£2so,ooo. Questioned about the estimated cost, ono engineer told a ' 'Post" interviewer that the figure named was in excess of the estimated cost. More than that cannot be ascertained at present. Tho achievement will undoubtedly prosper New Zealand's appeal as a land of wonders. The task ahead is being considered in detail. It is possible that special machinery may be used for drilling the tunnel, air drills being used in conjunction with oil-engine compressors. It is likely that more than 200 men will be working before the tunnel is completed, and that a gang will operate from the Milford end towards the tunnel. The total distance from Te Anau to the Milford Hostel by the route planned will bo seventy-four miles. * Tho rock of- the Homer Saddle is much harder than the rock struck in the Otira tunnel to the West Coast. It is believed that no tunnel lining will be necessary. The piercing of the tunnel, commencing on the To Anau side at a point about .2600 feet above sea-level- and ending on the Milford side at a level of about 2200 feet; will connect the sources of two beautiful rivers—the Hollyford River on the Te- Anau side, and tho Cleddau River on the Milford side. Tile traveller on the Homer Saddle will be able to trace these two rivers from their birth among tho snow and note their swelling down the mountain sides and valleys into rushinsr torrents.