Idle Machine A Landmark
CHRISTCHURCH, Fri. (Sp.)-One of the largest earth-moving machines in the world has been on a piece of waste land in Lyttelton for so long that it has almost become a landmark. Imported by the Public Works Department some years ago from the United States, the machine, a drag-line excavator, is one of three in New Zealand. Only one of the three has been used, for river clearing in the North Island. Part of the machinery at Lyttelton is still crated, and over the crates has grown a rich crop of weeds. The machinery has been under offer to various catchment boards in the South Island for some time, but none has taken up the offer. Local body engineers are said to believe that its size would make it too costly to assemble and operate. The derelict machine was mentioned by Mr J. T. Watts (O—St Albans) last October in the House of Representatives. The Minister of Works (Mr Semple) said then that the machinery had been lying idle for' two and a half years. It had been imported for dragging the mouth of the Orari River. The Minister said then that the Treasury could not come to to aA agreement with the local bodies concerned on the cost of the work.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19490527.2.85
Bibliographic details
Northern Advocate, 27 May 1949, Page 7
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215Idle Machine A Landmark Northern Advocate, 27 May 1949, Page 7
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