TWO-WAY TUNNEL

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 133, 7 June 1935, Page 10

TWO-WAY TUNNEL

MILFORD SOUND ROAD

NO TENDER ACCEPTED

A PUBLIC WORKS JOB

Cabinet has decided that the tunnel through the Homer Saddle on the Te Anau-Milford Sound Road is to be made wide enough for traffic both ways instead of a single roadway only, as was at first intended. The piercing of the tunnel will be undertaken by the Public Works Department. This decision was announced to "The Post" by the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. J. Bitchener) today, and the Minister stated that work on the tunnel would be commenced immediately and should be completed by the end of 1937. Footways for pedestrians will be constructed through the tunnel, and the roadway will, be concreted. The cutting of the tunnel will be the biggest task of its kind undertaken for many years. Tenders for the construction of the tunnel were called some time ago, but the Minister said today that the tenders received were substantially in ex"cess of the estimate of cost prepared by his Department. Cabinet had considered the tenders and had decided to decline them all and to instruct the. Public Works Department to undertake the work. '.-•'.

"Experience has shown," said the Minister, "that the Department has been more successful with these b.'g tunnel works than the private contractor. Quite a number of,such works have had to be taken in hand by the Department after the contractor has proceeded a certain distance, and the Department has then completed the work cheaply and expeditiously. Other major tunnel works have been carried out at a lower cost than the lowest tender received when the contract was advertised." A VITAL LINK. "The intention is to construct the Milford tunnel as a two-way tunnel, and to proceed with the work at once. This tunnel, which will be &) chains long, will pierce the Homer Saddle, and will represent one of the biggest contracts of its kind undertaken in New Zealand for many years. The tunnel itself is, of course, a vital link in the Te Anau-Milford Sound- Road, and it provides the only possible access to the country beyond the tunnel, through which the remainder of the road must be taken to reach the head of the Sound. ■■-.-•", "The road itself is now completed within two or three miles,of the tunnel portal, and. the intention is to commence the heading and push it through with speed, to. provide access to its western end, so that not only can the tunnel work be carried on from both ends, but a commencement can' also be made with the formation of the portion of road beyond the tunnel." HIGHER THAN OTHtA. The road now runs from Te Ariau up through the Eglington Valley to a point about eight miles past Lake Gunn, and has its present terminus in high, rugged country. Homer Saddle, which the road tunnel will pierce, is flanked by mountains of 7000 ft and 6000 ft altitude. The eastern end of the tunnel will.have an altitude of 3100 ft above sea level, so that it will be the highest road tunnel in New Zealand, and considerably higher even than the Otira tunnel. The grade into the tunnel will' be one "ini'-ten; • but from the western end the grade of- the road will continue down at one in eleven. The tunnel will be the highest elevation in the road, ten more miles of which will have to be constructed before the head of the Sound is reached. • ■ The tunnel itself will be 1333 yards in length, 1175 of which will be through rock.' The roadway width/is to be 18ft, and on either side will be a footway for pedestrians. The road-; way itself will be surfaced with-con-crete. The intention is to carry the work on continuously,' using three shifts, and it' is hoped that it will be completed within thirty months after commencement, so that the tunnel should be ready for use by about the end of 1937,,

"As the approach roads to the tunnel, including the ten miles between the western portal and Milford Sound, are in difficult country," said the Minister, "it is obvious that a large expenditure will be involved, and a correspondingly large number of men has to be employed." .