NEW HENDERSON BRIDGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15174, 13 December 1912, Page 5

NEW HENDERSON BRIDGE.

A BIG IMPROVEMENT SCHEME.

The now ferroconcrete bridge over the Opap.uka stream at Henderson is to bo formally opened for traffic to-morrow at 2.30 p.m. Messrs. John Bollard, M.P. for Eden, and A. Harris, M.P. for Waitemata, will be present. The former, as the oldest representative of the .district, will perform the opening ceremony. To mark the occasion decorated carts, laden with schoolchildren, will cross the bridge, followed by a number of decorated vehicles and horses. The opening ceremony will thus prove a most picturesque function.

The now bridge replaces an old wooden structuro close to tho railway bridge, but is a few chains distant from the former site. A deviation of tho road has been mado to give approaches to the bridge. The new site will reduce the risk of horses shying at passing trains. The bridge is supported on two piers and an arch, and is 54ft long, with a roadway 16ft 6in wide. The work was designed by the engineer of the Waitemata County Council (Mr. G. A. Jackson), and was built by Messrs. Turner and Beadle at a cost of £700.

The opening of the new bridge marks an advancement of a great improvement scheme, by which probably the most important highway to the North of Auckland is being changed from* its present route through Swanson, and diverted along Lincoln Road and across the Huruhuru tidal creek to the slopes on the west side of the Waitemata Harbour. This new deviation, besides giving much easier grades than the Swanson route, will open up a large area of country between Hobsonville and Henderson to settlement. The Waitemata County Council is spending several thousands of pounds on this work, which will bo of great benefit to tho northern districts.