THE DEBORA TUNNEL.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 54, 13 August 1877, Page 2

THE DEBORA TUNNEL.

I Concerning this work, the piercing ofl which was narrated, in our telegraphic* columns last week, the following descrip-4 tion is given in the Dunedin papers: — A great deal has been written- about.; thoDeborah Bay tunnel since the Work wascommenced, but now that it has beem completed, a short history of the uindeM taking will, no doubt, bo of interest to* our readers. The original esthete of the cost of the tunnel was about £Go}ooo, but. the actual cost will only reach £48.0(XX The length of the tunnel is 66 chains, or 1150 yards ; its height is 16ft. 2in„ and its width averages lift., the walls being slightly arched. For a distance of twothirds the length of the tun noi, going from> the south end, there is a nso of one foot in CO, and after that a full of one foot in--995, until the tunnel, which is , quito straight, leads out into tho Purakanni Valley. The fii-3t sod was turned onMarch 26, 1874, and the actual work of • tunnelling was commenced ai the south end oa June 1, 1874, and at the nortlv end on September 1 in the samo year, thocontractors being Messrs M'Kenzie 8r05.,, with whom MrG. W. Eliott has beeu associated.. At the Dunedin end of the tunnel, the miners havo been, driving, for 22 months and 20idays,.and at the north end 31- months. Upwards of 5000" cubic yards of m3ionry and brickwork have been put in, aud over .3000 casks of cement have been used ;. while the cost of* the candles used in- the work will bo about £2000 ;.and of Uniting' powder and lithofß-icteur about £1000. Nearly 80,000 bricks have boon sent from.DntTedin for the work, in addition to. tlielarge number made ou the grounds