“BOBBY DAZZLERS”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26272, 2 October 1946, Page 4

“BOBBY DAZZLERS”

SUPER-DRAGLINE MACHINES PURCHASE IN UNITED STATES (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Oct. 1. Information about the purchase by the Government of three super dragline machines which, he said, had been described as “ bobby dazzlers,” was sought by Mr W. Sullivan (Oppn., Bay of Plenty) in the debate on the Estimates in the House of Representatives to-day. The machines had been purchased some time ago. he said, but he understood that they were not yet in operation. The Minister of Works. Mr Semple, said he hoped the name “ bobby dazzler ’’ was • appropriate. The machines had been bought in the United States by the chief mechanical engineer. There were no others like them in Australia, New Zealand, or the United States. They cost £35,000 each. The delay in putting them into operation was caused by the fact that the motors had to be rewound in the United States to suit the New Zealand electric current. The first machine would be at work clearing the mouth of the Otaki River within a fortnight. Mr Semple said that many people had ridiculed the bulldozer when it was first introduced. The new machines were each capable of moving 1,000.000 yards of shingle a year. They were to be used to clear shingle from the mouths of rivers, deepening the channels and creating a natural scour. The purpose was to remove the need for continual patchwork in the way of stopbanks and to prevent the erosion of millions of yards of valuable soil.