Toes of Steel to be Used

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 80, 5 April 1938, Page 5

Toes of Steel to be Used

BENDING TO PATTERN MONOTONOUS TASK. Steel plays au important part in the trestle bridge in the course of construction at Whirokino and it is estimated that before the undertaking has been completed 750 tons of reinforcing will be incorporated in the piles and spans that will lift the roadway into the air. Near the old bfidge across tb* Manawatu river are to be seen piles of steel rods of varying thickness which must be bent to the required size and sh. > to take their place in the finished pattern. This work undoubtedly calls for a philosophic turn of mind as it could very easily become exasperatingly monotonous. This is readily apparent when it is known that at least 20,000 units of one particular type have to be cut and bent to the same design—surely a task to try the patience cf Job. If anybody is concerned with the frequently mentioned shortage of steel supplies it should be these men. in pursuit of novel information, a reporter enquired just how far the steel rods if placed end on end would stretch. The response was not immediate b**t after some rapid calculating an engineer hazarded the opinion that the steel to be utilised would probably measure in all Somewhere between 300 and 400 miles. In addition to the reinforcing of the aiain structure a large quantity of steel was incorporated in the piles which were driven to an average depth of 30 feet. The pile heads were split at the ground level in the usual fashion to expose the steel running through the piles, which is used to anchor the ground level block from which the reinforced concrete pier members, four abreast, rise fifteen feet above the flat.