MAIN HIGHWAYS IN NUMBER NINE DISTRICT

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6884, 13 April 1929, Page 11

MAIN HIGHWAYS IN NUMBER NINE DISTRICT

New Bridge over Manawatu

£147,060 WILL BE SPENT

A sum of £147,000 will be spent on roads in No .9 district, handy to Palmerston North, in a programme nowin hand, which will extend over three years. This announcement was made by Mr. C. McKenzie, acting chairman of the Main Highways Board, at a brief meeting held in Palmerston North yesterday.

The board comprising Messrs C. McKenzie, (acting chairman), J. J. Gibson, j. Wood, M. H. Wynyard, C. J. Talbot with Messrs A. Tyndall (engineer.), and W. A. Sutherland' (soerctary), is on a tour of the Wellington West, Wanganui, Taranaki and King Country highway districts and arrived in Palmerston "North yesterday afterupon from Wellington, haying received deputations at Otaki, Levin, Shannon "and Foxton en route. On arrival at Palmerston. North, board mambers were welcomed by Mr.' Jos. Batcheiar,., chairman of .the Kai- . ranga Count, council,. ..

PitzHerbert Avenue Bridge. The Mayor (Mr. A. J. Graham) and the Borough engineer (Mr. J. R. Hughes) waited upon the board in ■Connection with a new bridge over the Manawatu, at Fitzherbcrt Avenue. In addressing the board, Mr Graham stated'!— , ‘‘•This bridge consists of nine 85ft. truss spans, supported on totana pile piers and three pairs -of cast iron cylinders, also a land span of 45ft. at the Palmerston North end and a 48ft. truss span at the county end, making a total length of bridge of 858 feet. The width, between wheel guards is 13ft.' The greater -portion of this bridge was 'erected in tho 'year ; 1877- wholly of totara timber; in the year 1896, one 85ft. span was erected .at- the Fitzhorbeirt end, and at the same time as the three sets of cylinders .were put down, fn 1904, the approach at the ■ Fitzhcrbert end was again, washed away and the present ■ 48ft. span - whs erected.' B’frfing. recent years a quantity of timber has been replaced; the bottom cords of the main trusses have reached such a state that it has-been; 'necessary to strengthen- them by bolting on heavy timber flitches.. A number of transomee- has also had to be replaced. The 'bridge is udder the joint control of the Palmerston North borough and the Kairanga County council. In 1926, the engineers to the Borough and County drew the attention Of their respective councils to the general state of the bridge and were instructed to consult with the then district engineer. In company with Mr Hannah, the engineers made a thorough inspection of the. timbers of the bridge; holes were sunk around some of the old piers and the piles examined, and many were found .to. be in a state of decay. Following' on a consideration of the emgTneer’s • report, the council gave instructions for preliminary plans and estimates: tp bo prepared. Three proposals and tentative ' estimates have beeft' prepared comprising -designs of'steel trusses;- and' reinforced concrete arches; So' details have as yet' been worked Out. " "_h" '/‘The width of tho bridge is only, sufficient with any degree of safety for ene way traffic and although it is generally understood that"it is a one way traffic bridge, collisions have been fairly frequent, fortunately so far without loss of life. Whenever repairs to thetransomes have to be carried out, there Ts a serious hold up and Inconvenienco to traffic; on a recant occasion when it was necessary to replace two transomes at least 35 vehicles were held up on the Palmerston end, despite the fact .That., the , bridge -was advertised to be closed between 5.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. As this is tho only bridge spanning • the Manawatu river between the Lower Gorge bridge and the Shannon bridge, its failure would cause considerable inconvenience to both through and local traffic; moreover when the Gorge is. blocked by slips, tho whole of the traffic between the East and West coasts has to use this bridge to obtain access to the Pahiatua road—tho only alternative route. It must be admitted that

a bridge built of totara timber over 50 years ago will at this date have reached its full term of service; and this fact alone makes it imperative that no time should be lost in preparing for its replacement by a more modern structure. We therefore desire to ascertain what subsidy the board would grant towards the construction of a new bridge, so that the interested local bodies can arrange their iinanccs for the balance of the money.’ In reply to Mr. McKenzie, the Mayor stated that the proposed new structure was estimated to cost between £40,000 and £45,000, and that the liability was equally divided between the Palmerston North borough and ■ the Kairanga county,; At the present time, the total loan indebtedness on the old structure was £1,470. Mr. McKenzie stated that the board' would go into the matter.

Kairanga County Roads. Mr Jos, Batcheiar, as chairman of the "Kairanga" County council, wishod to know the attitude of the board towards' the main south road from the Manawatu bridge through Tokomaru to the Horowkoriua county boundary. The speaker particularly stressed the bad "corner at the Linton church, , ; ; With .regard to the; Pahiatua track, the council had been promised a. maihtenance subsidy by the board in the event of the Gorge road being blocked but at present,' with heavy traffic restrictions operating in tho Gorge, lorries,;weiQ Using the track. It was also coming into favour as a stock

route. .T. T _, _ ~ ~ In- reply to Mr. McKeinzie, tho speaker stated .that-his council was concerned mostly with the heavy traffic.. As a means of arriving at ; a decision, the board hsked that the county forward a week’s tally of the heavy traffic over the range,. , , , A' further request by Mr -Batcheiar was that Milson’s line for two miles from the borough boundary, be declared a subsidiary highway. The -traffic over this section- whs particularly heavy. Mr McKenzie ■' stated this request was a matter for the District Highway Counciland should be brought •before it at’ its noxt- meeting. In speaking' in support of Mr. Batcheiar; the County engineer, (Mr. J. R. Memzies) ■ stated- that the council’s chief worry was the Main South road.- Iffke bdard wodld; give a three to one subsidy, Bis council could arrange it’s finances to do five miles of loading this .’winter!- With regard to the Linton corneri he held that it would require half a mile of new road to remove it. . The board promised to give the "mabtdr itb * consideration.

Motorists’ Requests. ' The president of the Manawatu Automobile Association (Mr E. R. B. Hoiben- wished to know if the board had decided to abandon the Levin-Tokomaru road." His body had been asked to divert traffic tb, the Poxton-Shannon route. This had been done, yet work had, ceased on, the section mentioned. Tho speaker asked if the work has ceased permanently and if not, for how long. In reply, Mr McKenzie stated that his board has no desire to stop and explained that the cessation was due to tho local bodies Interested falling-with their" contributions; 1 v‘ A second request by Mr Holben, of interest to. motorists,., was that if it woro'-possible 1 that the board see that roads were surfaced instead of leaving tb-d raffle tho W6rk' ; of "'rolling, in the loose tnetal.The 'sp&i'k'or then referred to the condition of tlic Palmerstonfciatison road. In reply, Mr McKenzie observed that once a iroad ■was. built up, it . required 12 months to consolidate,, . Mr A. Tyndall; “B is ::inuch better to leave a road for a period after it has been built up, than to finish it immediately and subsequently have 'the public blame' us for having constructed a bad road.” • Before, the deputation' withdrew, Mr McKenzie mentioned tho amount of the programme in hand and stated that when it was completed the district around Palmerston North would have excellent roads.

. Amounts | W<irks- in - hand, amounts allocated and amounts advanced to date by the Highways board in districts adjacent to Palmerston North are as follow: Levin-Wirokino bridge* Amount involved £45,000, advanced to date on £3, for.£l subsidy £SOOO. Foxton-llimatangi road. £BOOO for widening only. Subsidy £5200 on a 2 for 1 basis. Himatangi-Eangiotu. £20,000. £3OOO has beon advanced on a 3 for 1. basis. This work is in progress. £30,000 will be spent on the Eangi-otu-Palmerston North section of the Foxton road. £3,000 has been advanced to date, on a £3 for £1 subsidy -for hotmix paving. ..-■■■ Authority has been .given,for paving, widening and concrete bridges on the Lcvin-Palmerston North main highway to the ’extent of £21,000 on a £3 for £l basis. This work is in‘progress. The -Sanson-Palmerston North road is to have £16,200 on a £3 for £1 basis for hot-mix paving. At the present time, over 600 men are working. on highways in No. 9 (West Wellington) highway district, more than half of whom are employed in that part of the district north of Waikanac.