PAHIATUA BRIDGE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 9, 8 December 1932, Page 6

PAHIATUA BRIDGE.

ERECTION OF NEW STRUCTURE,

The netv Pahiatua Bridge, which is to be officially opened on Saturday, is situated on the main highway between Pahiatua township and the railway station, and lies on the boundary between the borough and the county. Apart from providing the Pahiatua township’s railway connection, this road also taps the Ballance district in the lower Mangahao Valley. For the last 40 years traffic has been provided for by a totara truss bridge of ten spans, a total length of 660 feet. About 14 years ago two spans were removed reducing the length to 540 feet. In 1926 it ivas decided to limit loading to five tons, and speeds to ten miles per hour on the old structure, and it was recommended that protective work should be carried out in preparation for a neiv bridge. Some two years ago, following a consultation between the Public Works Department and the Pahiatua County Council, the controlling authority, it was decided that further expenditure on repairs were unwarranted, a(nd plans for a new bridge should be prepared. These were completed, and tenders called, resulting in one for £13,450 being accepted. The bridge has seven spans, each 68 feet long and 35 feet wide, and is of reinforced concrete construction throughout. The deck is suspended from two overhead arch ribs, which subdivide the deck into a central roadway 20 feet wide and two outer footpaths, each 4 feet 6 inches wide. The outer railings are of concrete panelling, and inner railings of galvanised piping aro fitted underneath the arch ribs completely separating pedestrian traffic from wheeled traffic and stock. The deck is finished with a wearing course of dense concrete. The design of the bridge provides for a 16-ton traction engine, with trailers for each 10 feet width of roadway, and an allowance of 60 pounds per square foot for pathways; all in accordance with main highway standard practice. Provision has been made in the structure for lighting and for carrying telegraph lines and u'ater mains.

The quantities of materials in the bridge aro: Steel, 150 tons; concrete, 1200 cubic yards; and piles 2220 lineal feet. The approximate cost of the bridge per lineal foot is £22. The contributing bodies are the Main Highways Board, the Pahiatua County Council, and the Pahiatua Borough Counoil.