SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 11 February 1925, Page 3

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE.

GANGS NOW AT WORK.

The final doubis of all sceptics in regard to the Sydney harbour bridge work have been set a.t- rest by the commencement of the rteal building during January. A start lias been held up by variouss matters that could only be settled by Mr J. J. C. Bradfield, who recently returned front a trip to England in connection ith the work. He was unable to sav much concerning the action taken against the Government of New New South Wales by one of the unsuccessful tenderers, beyond the fact that it would not hinder the building of the bridge by Dorman Long and Company. Preliminary work was commenced both at Dawes. Point and on the .north shore. ... At Dawes Point that section where the take off will bo has been fenced off, and a gang of men is engaged demolishing old buildings and preparing the land for the excavations that will have to be made for the principal abutments of the bridge. It is an historic locality at the Dawes Point end, and conic landmarks of early Sydney will disappear with the coming of the bridge. The bridge contractors have opened an office on th© top of the hill, and the demolition of the old military buildings associated with what was formerly known as Fort Philip lias commenced. On the north shore a big gang of men is engaged in clearing the land between the old Milson’s Point station and the new terminus which embraces the escalators.. There the contractors will construct huge workshops, which will be of a permanent character. These shops will in future be used to fabricate the steel work of other bridges to be constructed in the State. These works have been designed on artistic lines, and to obvioate the smoke nuisance—the district in that vicinity is thickly populated—the machines will be driven by hydraulic power. The workshops are expected to be completed by th© end of the year. Dorman Long and Company will also erect wharves along the site of the workshops. The contractors have been occupied for some months on constructional work at their Botany works, and wqrk in connection with the bridge is also being carried out by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company at Newcastle. Two shins are' being built at Walsh Island, and are now nearing completion. They are designed for carrying stone from the State quarries at Moruya, and this stone will be used in the construction of the bridge towers. The shins will also .be utilised to bring the steel from the Newcastle works to Sydney. There has been some resentment shown the contractors for what is regarded as a breach of an essential portion of their contract, in that they have bought large supplies of material in other parts of the world when the same articles were procurable in Australia. Raida] drills, for instance. Dorman Long and Company reply to these by quoting the contract, which says they shall purchase all materials, as far as practicable, In Australia. It is on th© interpretation of the words “as far as practicable” that they differ from Australian manufacturers. The obvious signs of activity on both sides of the harbour have silenced all the sceptics.