PROGRESS REVIEWED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 4 December 1940, Page 8

PROGRESS REVIEWED

! SOUTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK LINE ! MANPOWER HOURS NOW THE QUESTION MINISTER'S STATEMENT i [United Press Association] WELLINGTON. This Day. ! i The completion of the South Island j main trunk railway linking the lines i having their termini at Parnassus in i Canterbury and Wharanui in Marl ! borough was originally fixed for the j end of 1941. but the Minister of Pub-; | lie Works. Mr Semple, said in an ' interview yesterday that, though the ; completion was well in sight, the date . was dependent on the men and ma- • j chines available. The Minister re-; I viewed the progress of the works, and :in stressing the factors operating today mentioned that ..t the outbreak of war the construction was actually ahead of schedule. “The major difficulties having been overcome, the situation is now one of manpower hours.” Mr Semple said. “Because of the number of enlistments j for overseas service-and the policy of, the Government gradually to reduce j 1 he'staffing on public works, the num- j her of men employed on this railway construction has been considerably re duced. That, of course, will mean a commensurate increase in the time to complete it. The amount of further shrinkage is dependent on the war situ- | ation.” j Most of the formation work on the northern section, a total distance of 48 miles 48 chains, had been done to within a very short ‘ distance of Kai- \ koura. The major work had been the | erection of the steel on the Clarence' River bridge, which has an overall ; length of 1524 feet in 12 spans, and! that work was almost finished. Tun-! nclling on the northern section, on which there were six tunnels, was also practically completed, and an ex ten- ; sive work recently undertaken was the stabilisation of the well known Blue Slip. Rails have been laid from Wharanui ! to the Clarence bridge, the minister said, and ballasting was progressing \ The extent, to which plate-laying could be carried on below the Clarence was dependent on the delivery 'of steel . rails from Australia. The rails were on order. “Very good progress has been made on all parts of the work on the section j south of Kaikoura. a distance of 29 . miles 40 chains." Mr Semple reported, i : Tunnelling, which constituted a very i large and expensive portion of this section, was approaching . completion. The bridging of the Okarahia. Oaro and Kahautara streams was in hand '■ and plate-laying was being carried out between Hundalee, the recently opened , terminus, and the Amuri Bluff tunnel.! The driving of the Amuri Bluff lunj nel was completed, but additional work 1 j on the concrete lining remained to be; I done. The tunnel passed through very j | I unstable country, and the .consequent! i heavy pressure which developed after • | the main portion of the tunnel was) opened up made the extra work neces-l sary. j !