Inangahua Council's Decision on Coal Creek Bridge

Grey River Argus, 29 October 1948, Page 8

Inangahua Council's Decision on Coal Creek Bridge

(From Our Own Reporter) REEFTON, October 28.

The Government should make a grant of £3OOO or £4OOO towards the erection of a bridge over Coal Creek said Mr H. Y. Belts, of Coal Creek in a letter to the Inangahua County Council to-day. He stated that this would relieve the ratepayers of a large sum of money in a project which was the main concern of the Government. An offer of £26 was also made towards the cost of resurveying the site, as he contended that the Works Department figures of 26,000 cubic yards of material to be excavated, were unreliable, The chairman, Mr A. Topp said the Works Department would never agree to the construction of a short bridge. Cr. O’Regan said that the Works Department intended to construct a coffer dam, and that the abutments would have to be on solid ground. He also pointed out that the water in the creek would percolate through the porous soil in the creek bed, and the cost of keeping the water oui while the coffer dam was being erected would add considerably to the cost. As a grade of 1 in 20 was required at the approaches Io the bridge, a considerable l amount of soil would have to be moved and half a mile of permanent road would have to be cut down to the required level. If the bridge was constructed on a new site, it would equal the cost of a bridge on the old site. A coffer clam was necessary. The Wofks Department was prepared to put a suspension bridge on the old site alongside the existing bridge. The bridge would have an eight-ton load limit, and would be similar to the Karangarua bridge in South Westland.

The two types of bridges proposed by the Works Department were:--A suspension bridge with no load limit, or a suspension bridge with an eight-ton limit. It was decided to ask the Works Department for details of the cost of both types of bridge. It was also decided to inform Mr Betts that the council had decided to rely on the advice of the Works Department.