BRIDGE IN DANGER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21175, 6 May 1932, Page 11

BRIDGE IN DANGER.

PROBLEM AT HAMILTON. IMPORTANT TRAFFIC LINK. PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. [from our own correspondent.] HAMIiiIONV Thursday. The Hamilton traffic bridge, which, according to the borough engineer, Mr. R. Worley, is in serious danger of collapsing and should be immediately closed for renairs, was opened for traffic in 1910. The cost, totalling £25,500, was borne by the Hamilton Borough Council. the Frankton Town Board, and the Waikato and Waipa County Councils. The structure has an arch span 340 ft. in length, and there are four land spans which give the bridge a total length of 500 ft. A carriageway of 18ft. and a footway of 4ft. 6in. are provided on the concrete decking. Trouble first developed in 1919, when the Borough Council let a. contract for the additional strengthening of the western king posts. Early in 1929, the borough engineer drew the council's attention to the serious settlement of the foundations which had spread and had caused a drop in the level of the decking. Attention was also drawn at that time to the decaying nature of the superstructure. Trouble With Decking. Since the major movement in the bridge was discovered in 3929 the fundamental points of the bridge have been subject to regular checking. )t lias been found that over a periodthree years the crown of the arch has settled from half to three-quarters of an inch, and that the foundations have spread from onequarter to three-eighths of an inch. Previous total movements were 12£ in. on the arch and 6in. in the spread of the foundations.

The main trouble with the decking was that the reinforcing was exposed and nearly eaten through, and that the concrete was crumbling away. The reinforced concrete footwork de< king is described by the engineer to be in a deplorable condition Structurally and might actually be the first member of the bridge to give serious trouble. The Borough Council has erected notices at each end of the bridge warning users not to exceed 10 miles an hour in speed and to see that weights of vehicles and load > do not exceed tons. An inspector is stationed at each end to give verbal warning to drivers of vehicles. It is also proposed to warn people that the bridge is to be used at their own risk. Some Alternative Routes. The bridge is on the main highway to Thames, Ilotorua, and Taupo, and is the principal connecting link between Claudelands and Hamilton East on the eastern side of the river and the business quarter on the western side. Traffic from Auckland to points to the south-east of Hamilton may avoid the bridge by turning to the east before crossing the Waikato River at Ngaruawahia and by running along the River Road to the east of the river. There is also a traffic bridge over the river at Horotiu, c'ght miles north of Hamilton. The only other traffic bridge handy to Hamilton is at the Narrows, five miles to the south. The erection of a standby bridge ; n the vicinity of the Hamilton pumping station, a quarter of a mile to the south of the existing structure, to be used while the main bridge is under repair, is being considered. Proposals For Other Bridges.

The question of erecting a high level bridge, and a low level bridge across the Waikato River at Hamilton has been under consideration for many years. In 1923, the Borough Council submitted a proposal to the ratepayers to raise £50,000 for the erection of a high-level bridge at Bryce Street, just north of the Railway Bridge, but the proposal was rejected by a large majority. A later; proposal was to have a bridge erected at Piako Road, but no action has been taken.

In 1930, representatives of the, Hamilton Borough Council and the Waikato and Waipa County Councils waited on the Hon. E. A. Ransom, then Minister of Public Works, asking for the Government's assistance toward the cost of erecting a low-level bridge just outside the northern boundary of the town. Tho Minister offered to grant £1 in £3 up to £BOOO toward the cost, which, was estimated at £21.000. There have been several conferences of the local bodies concerned since that date, but nothing has been done toward having the biidge erected.