LANDSLIP BLOCKS TUNNEL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19924, 18 April 1928, Page 12

LANDSLIP BLOCKS TUNNEL.

TAWA FLAT DEVIATION.

WORKMEN RUN TO SAFETY.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON", Tuesday.

Tunnelling operations in the drive at the Hutt Road end of the Tawa Flat railway deviation were at a standstill last night, a fall of earth after the heavy rain having practically blocked the entrance to the tunnel. The slip, which came down just as the four men on day shift were leaving duty at 4 p.m., disabled the electric wires that provide electricity for those working in the tunnel at night. The drive from the liutt Road end, up on the bank just above the spot where the pier has been erected in the centre of the roadway, lias been penetrated for five or six chains. t "We had just finished our day's work," said one of the men, "and we heard a rumble when we were near the entrance. We hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to run back in the drive or to rush outside. We chose the latter course arid ran out and down the steps leading down the bank to the Hutt Road, when down came the fall. It was fortunate it was not any larger, for had it been so and had we been inside the blocking of the tunnel mouth would have entombed us."

The secretary of the New Zealand Workers' Union, Mr. A. Cook, slated that the Hutt Road entrance to the drive had always been considered a dangerous one by the men. He said they had inet only on Sunday to discuss the question of the safety of the approaches at the tunnel mouth. He had interviewed the departmental engineer in regard to the matter. The engineer had promised to inspect the locality in companv with the contractor. "In the meantime," said Mr. Cook, "a fall has taken place. In the opinion of the men. a much greater fall will take place. The union's argument is that tho approach should have been made safer in the first place, and (his should bo done before anv more work goes on." In addition to the fall at the tnnnel mouth another fall came down about 40 yards further along-the bank, on the Petone side. This slip blocked the road up the side of the hill from the Hutt Road to the tunnel.