LONG BRIDGE OPENED
MR. SEMPLE AT RAIvAIA. Elect* ic Telegraph—Press Association CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. The Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) to-day officially opened the new traffic bridge across the Rakaia River. The occasion was of great importance to all who use the Main South Highway. The bridge consists of 144 spans, each nominally 40ft. in length, and is the longest in New Zealand, being 4762 ft. in length. 8400 cubic yards of concrete and 1100 tons of steel were used and 17,400 ft. or almost three miles and a half of concrete piles were driven. Mr Semple said that the cost of the work was a charge on the Main Highways Fund entirely and the Highways Board deserved credit for the provision of such a fine structure. With the old bridge there had been occasions when road traffic was much inconvenienced and it had taken motorists as long as an hour to trail a flock of sheep across the bridge and every motorist in Canterbury could recollect being held up to await the passing of trains. Those days had now passed.
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Bibliographic details
Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14092, 25 March 1939, Page 6
Word Count
184LONG BRIDGE OPENED Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14092, 25 March 1939, Page 6
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