SPANNING THE MOHAKA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23044, 21 November 1936, Page 14

SPANNING THE MOHAKA

DOMINION’S MIGHTIEST BRIDGE ONE-THIRD OF WORK COMPLETED (Per United Press Association) NAPIER, Nov. 20. New Zealand’s mightiest bridge, that over the Mohaka River on the east coast railway line, is nearly one-third finished and is expected to be completed by next June. At the deepest part the bottom of the gorge is 310 ft below the level of the railway line, and from bank to bank the distance is 900 ft. When it is completed the viaduct will be, discounting the Sydney Harbour bridge, the biggest railway trestle in the southern hemisphere. The total weight of steel used is between 1700 and 1800 tons, of which 540 tons have already been erected and 21,000 of the 90,000 rivets required have been used in the process. The girders upon which the railway line will be laid span the two towers on the Napier side of the gorge. The tower nearest to the bank is 40ft high, the next 200 ft, and the next tower to grow—one of the two tallest—will be 310 ft from river level to rail level. About 50 men are actually engaged in the bridge building, but a further 20 are engaged in such tasks as clearing the line and overhauling the steel.