A LONG BRIDGE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4632, 6 December 1934, Page 6

A LONG BRIDGE

0 - THE LOWER ZAMBESI. GREAT WORK COMPLETED. London, November 1. "Modern Transport" announces the completion of the last span of the Lower Zambesi Bridge, the longest bridge.in the world. New - Zealand engineers are to be found in all parts of the world, and it is not unnatural that several New Zealanders should have helped in the construction of this £1,434,337 project, which is being carried out on behalf of the Central Africa and Trans-Zambesi Railway Companies to provide uninterrupted railway communication between Beira and Lake Nyasa. The bridge consists of 2589 ft 3in of viaduct, thirty-three main spans, and six approach spans, the aggregate total over-all being 11,650 ft 9in. The viaduct is level throughout

and connectors are provided between the rail girders and the supporting brackets. The main spans are of the through type with an opendeck floor, and supported by concrete piers built on concrete walls sunk in the bed of the river or on mass concrete bases founded on the rock at the river bank. The centres of the piers for each main span are 262 ft 6in, and each main span is provided with cast-steel bearings. Other bridges of exceptional length are Tay Bridge (Scotland), 10,527 ft, and the Upper Stone Bridge (India), 10,052 ft. For the Hell Gate Bridge, New York, the claim is made of a length of 13,553 ft, but 10,818 ft of this is over land, and only a total of 2735 ft is over three separate branches of the river. The Lower Zambesi Bridge is, however, a continuous steel bridge 11,650 ft in length, over a river which, in the winter season, is that width where the bridge crosses.

"The Imperial Government says it will not deal or negotiate with anyone other than Government officials. You had an example of this when Mr. David Jones, chairman of the Meat Board, went to England as adviser to the High Commissioner in the discussions on the meat restrictions. Mr. Jones was told by the Imperial Government to step outside the door. He was not recognised as he was not a Government servant. Government will deal only with Government. Many cables passed between New Zealand and Great Britain before the position was straightened out." The foregoing remarks were made by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. C. E. Macmillan) when speaking at Maungaturoto on the Government proposals to assist the dairy industry. "I do not think that the farmer has realised that the position of marketing has changed," added the Minister. "Some time ago it was an effort to bring about co-operation to get better prices, as between the farmer and the Tooley Street merchant. Marketing has now got beyond that. When the Imperial Government takes a hand in it, Tooley Street and everyone else have to take a back seat."