RAILWAY WORK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23073, 25 June 1938, Page 17

RAILWAY WORK

WAIKOKOPU - GISBORNE CLEARING FLOOD DEBRIS CONDITIONS NEARING NORMAL THREE MONTHS BEHIND TIME [DY TELEGRAPH OWN CORRESPONDENT] GISBOHNE, Friday Conditions of work on the Waiko-kopu-Gisborne section of the east coast railway are getting back to normal, but upsets of the last few months will leave their marks upon the schedule of construction to which the Public Works Department had been operating. Damage estimated at between £50,000 and £60,000 has been suffered by the department through slips, wash-outs and bridge losses, and through loss of time in deliveries of much-needed materials at key points, the works are now about •three months behind schedule. Although every effort is being made to make up the loss of time, there are not many opportunities for doing so. The majority of men are back on their own jobs after a period of hectic emergency work to clear roads and remove from the formation level the worst of storm debris. Roads are carrying a heavy volume of traffic, for all the materials required for the line arc hauled by road. Bridge Work Retarded The time is not far distant when plate-laying to the northernmost and southernmost tunnel portals will mean a great saving in transport costs. Already there are substantial portions of formation and plate-laying completed up to Avorks standard. The joining of these isolated portions awaits the building of bridges at several points. The supply of steel from overseas sources is stiil ail uncertain factor in respect of the bridge-building programme and losses of material in recent storms have had to be made good, with consequent losses of time. In the case of the Waipaoa River bridge, new gear for launching steel spans has had to be devised, the old timber work having been swept away on April 25. The concentration of the major activities in the neighbourhood of the tunnel portals is a normal development of , the construction schedule. Formation work has almost reached its limit as far as it can be carried on independent of tunnelling. Population ol Camps On the other hand, the further the tunnels progress the greater is the number of men required to service those particular jobs. Thus one finds a large increase in the population of Tikiwhata Valley, which is the centre of important tunnelling work, whereas other camps formerly of major status now tend to fall in population. It is possible to travel from Gisborne to the top of Kopuawhaqp Valley in speed and comfort, but an attempt made yesterday to reach No. 4 Camp was blocked by slips on the road below the camp, which was the scene of the February tragedy, in which 21 people lost their lives. The road is still being reconstructed at great cost in time and labour. Some weeks were spent in taking down the face of a bluff near the No. 3 Camp, which had been undercut by floodwaters in February, when further falls of rock occurred rendering it necessary to take another cut down the face, which work is now proceeding.