RAILWAY BY CONTRACT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18861, 8 November 1924, Page 12

RAILWAY BY CONTRACT.

KATIKATI TO TE PUNA.

TURNING OF FIRST SOD.

CEREMONY THIS AFTERNOON.

ARMSTRONG. WHITWORTH READY

[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. TAURANGA. Friday.

A notable event in the history of the public works of the Dominion is to take place to-morrow afternoon at Te s Puna about nine, miles westward of Tauranga, when the Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister for Public Works, will perform the ceremony of turning the first sod in concction with the railway contract which was secured last March by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Ltd. This firm has a world-wide name as builders of battleships and heavy armament, and it is only within recent years that it has commenced undertaking large civil engineering contracts. The contract of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Ltd., for the Katikati-Te Puna railway is for a section of 18 miles 18 chains. The earthworks amount to one and a quarter million cubic yards. The route of the railway crosses numerous rivers, necessitating 15 major bridges, and 27 over bridges. The large bridges will be of the steel plate girder type. Thore will be five stations, Katikati, Aongatete, Apata, Omokoroa, and To Puna.

Assembly of Materials. The base of operations is at Mount Maunganui, where all the machinery and material will be landed. The contractors have already laid out a depot with sidings and built large sheds where all stores and material will bo held and all erection of plant will bo carried out. A jetty has also been constructed. This is to be utilised in the transport of all material from Mount Maunganui. Punts drawn by motor launches ' will be utilised for transport, and the plant and material will be landed at convenient points in tho vicinity of the railway route. The rails for the track and the iron and steel for the bridges are being imported from England. The sleepers, which will consist of hardwood, will be shipped from Australian ports direct to Mount Maunganui. A great quantity of stone will be required for ballasting and other purposes. The firm is now installing up-to-dato crushers in" ballast pits at Aongatete and these yill be operated by electric power. These pits will bo connected by rail with the railway works, and the metal for ballasting- the lino will be conveyed to its destination by train. A large quantity, of plant and equipment has already been assembled at Mount Maunganui, and transhipped to various points on the railway route. About one hundred and fifty men aro now engaged by the contractors, and in the course of another few weeks additions to the equipment will mean the employment of more men. It is anticipated * that when tho works are in full swing the number of men employed will be between 300 and 40(J. Housing accommodation is being provided, and already a large number of huts have been built, and are in occupation.

Mechanical Equipment. Machinery is to play a large part in the carrying out of the contract. Practically the whole of the plant and material required has already arrived, and some of the major plant items are already installed on the job. The plant includes six steam shovels, nine locomotives, including two ten-inch E,team locomotives, 200 trucks, 24 ballast waggons, two stonecrushers, one drag line excavator for excavating the ballast in the ballast pits, one ten-ton crane for bridge work, two 50ft. pile-driving outfits equipped with steam hammers, two oil launches, one towing scow, a number of punts, two motor lorries, etc. The company has opened offices in Tauranga, and naa already a staff at work under the direction of Major T. A. Choate, who recently arrived in New Zealand, and who has had considerable experience as an engineer of large works in different parts of the world.

Construction work on the railwayeastward from Waihi to the 14-milo peg is in hand hy the Public Works Department. The rails are laid as far as Athenree, and it is expected that this section should be ready for traffic by the end of the year, and be handed over to the Railway Departmentin June next. Work on the section of the line between Taurangai and Te Puna is being pushed on by the Public Works Department, and it is expected that this length, will be ready for goods traffic by the end of July. From o?anranga. to Pekatahi, a distance of 58£ miles, the line is completed eXcept foe final ballasting throughout, and permanent bridges between " Matata and Pekatahi. It is anticipated that this section should be completed in two years and a-half, by which time the whole line between Waihi and Taneatua should be ready to be handed over, to the Railway Department-. Beyond' Pekatahi the Whakatane Bridge is in handj and the line into) Taneatua should be ready for traffic within 12 ■months. !

Many men prominent in public life and business circles will attend the ceremony at Te Puna to-morrow. In the evening the visitors and others will be-the guests of Sir W. O. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Limited, at a banquet in the Town Hall. Colonel Greenhoijgh, " the company's New Zealand representative, is now in Tauranga.