TUNNEL THROUGH THE ANDES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 4, 6 January 1910, Page 3

TUNNEL THROUGH THE ANDES.

WORK NEARING COM-

PLETION

The gigantic task, which is of great engineering interest, of boring a tunnel through the chain of the Andes at an altitude of over IO,OOOft above sea level for the trains of the Transandina railway will, it is authoritatively stated, be completed very -shortly. , , .-.>.■.

Early in April next the 'line will be laid, and from then onward the journey from Buenos Aires, on the eastern side of the South American continent, to Valparaiso, on the Pacific coast, may be undertaken in comfort in a railway carriage all the year round. '

to the present, passengers'from the east have had to leave the rail at Las Cuevas and proceed by a zigzag road over the mountains on muleback or in coaches to Caracoles, the rail-nead ore the Chilian side—a journey which occupies about two hours; but this route is only open durin"the summer months. In the winter* when i the pass is closed by snow, travellers have perforce to go round by sea. The through route under the Andes will effect a saving of about twelve days in time and £13 in money.

The'work, of boring the two-mile tunnel, which was undertaken by the 1 ransandine Construction Company —an English concern—was commenced tour years ago, and has presented exceptional difficulties. Since the earthquake in Chili in 1906 there has been a erea't call for labour at good wages -tor rebuilding operations, and the company found it difficult-to secure a sufficient number of men who were willing to work at. such high altitudes. Then there has been the difficulty of transport. Material and plant have had to be conveyed, during part of that period, over bad roads, from Los Andes to the tunnslhead a distance of twenty-five mijes. Work in the higher altitudes has only been possible for five or six months in the year, but since the tunnel was attacked, work has gone on continuously.

"Between 1500 and 2000 men, natives and Italians, have been engaged, but, we-employed English foremen and English miners," the secretary ?-n • Construction Company stated •During the boring, which was, of course,^ undertaken from both sides, we met with no springs, but owing to the percolation of water, due to the metlmg of the snows some 2400 ft above, the men have often had to work immersed waist high. There now only remains 141 yards of borincr to be clone, and that will be completed by the end of this month, and the tunnel will be opened for traffic early m April. The frontier between Chili and Argentina will be found almost in the centre of the tunnel, lhe grade of the line from Los Andes to the tunnel-mouth varies from 2£ to as high as per cent., and passes through 25 small tunnels. The line is built partly on the adhesive und partly on the rack principle, and the engines, which are very powerful, are constructed for use on both sections. "The scenery on both sides of the tunnel is some of the grandest to te found in the world. At Los Andes the various railway communes interested in the Transandine traffic have erected a first-class hotel replete with every modern convenience.''

According to the Wairoa Guardian, a Waikaremoana settler through whose property the Wnikaretaheke flows for a short distance, is about to make an attempt to harness the water power, and make it. work for him instead of riumiv.jr to woste. It is proposed to erect n. turhii.e to senorate electricity, which lie proposes to use in o'dev/to lio-ht his rcnflorire. run Jiis Khnpn-shearino: plnr^, c"'t firewood and fii;if?, and 'do tho liUMdi'od find one thin a1?; require.] on ;> station .