THE OTIRA TUNNEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 August 1920, Page 6

THE OTIRA TUNNEL

TO BE IN USE. WITHIN THREE YEARS. Provided work goes forward without a huch passenger crams should be running through me Arthur s Pass tunnel wiiiiin iluee years (says the Lyttelton ’limes). Engineering exports say that it will ta—j twelve months to complete ilio pr.-oni excavating and concrete lining operations. Then the tunnel will require to be cleaned up, permanent rails will have to be laid, and provision made for electrification, work which will occupy another eighteen months at least.

The tunnel is five miles twenty-five chains in length and there is still a distance of approximately forty-four chains to be hollowed cut in the top heading. The Beaiey men are now

wurkim' one mile and thirty-seven chains fr;iu the eastern entrance, and the Otira men three miles and twentyiour cha ns from the western entrance. When both "ant's in alee progress at the normal rate, they can excavate, arch and line one chain ,:in six days, but there is always the possibility of delay through an unforseen cause. To meet contingencies, the Public Works Department intendi to send another gang of fifteen men into the Eealey face, •where there will then be three shifts of! h workiiiu siv hours. At the Otira end there are about sixty men employed inside the tunnel, working in four shifts of four hours each. When they have finished up round the scene of the slip those men will go on for the ordinary wet schedule time of six hours a dav.

The Government has now decided definitely that trains passing through the tunnel shall be carried on electric power generated by steam, and that the full electrified section shall extend a distance of seven miles, from the Arthur’s Pass station to the Otira station. Tenders for this part of the work close on Saturday. The plans show that Otira will be the real centre of tunnel activities. In addition to the power house and fitting shop, Forty model dwellings will bo erected there for the electricians and workmen. The lay out of the present yards at the Arthur’s Pass and Otira station,s will be changed entirely. The platforms will be of the “island” tvpe. set up between the main lines and sidings, and subways will be constructed for the use of passenders. When trains arrive for the funnel trim only engines will be changed. Carriages will travel either way.