The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 514, 22 December 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1877.

Some little time ago, the Colony received the startling information that the Rangitata Bridge had received ft severe shock, and that the costly structure hod been shaken to its very foundations by one of the floods that periodically visit the river over which it spans, In these days of untruth and exaggeration, the rumour was little heeded, and no more has been said about it till now. Mr. Williams, C.E., under instructions from the Government, has reported upon the condition of the bridge, and his statement is anything but reassuring. Huge concrete blocks have shuffled down the river, and there seems to be but little hope of restoring the bridge to a state of security unless by some other system than . that orginally adopted, and it appears to us that nothing less than the demolition of the whole fabric will prove satisfactory, If this should be necessary, the cost will be great, for it will entail the substitution of piles, driven at enormous cost through the boulders, or the adoption of cylinders which would be even more expensive, though more permanent, than piles. This and the Brunner Bridge mishap are, we fear, only the commencement of a general smash amongst the bridges which have been constructed under the superintendence of the Engi-neer-in-Chief. He appears to be the only man, notwithstanding his superior knowledge, who has been baffled by our formidable rivers ; and it appears to us that if he has succeeded in fashioning a bridge that is fit for more than the passage of a wheelbarrow it has been accomplished more by sheer good luok than anything else. The calamity to the Rangitata Bridge is bad enough ; but, had it been a little worse, railway communication with Christchurch would have been cnt oft". The ingenuity of an engineer—not the Engineer-in-Chief—has enabled the traffic to be maintained, and has prevented the inconvenience which would have arisen from a deacUloek on the Northern line.