Tunnel Progress

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19886, 13 March 1939, Page 14

Tunnel Progress

Sir,—lt is regretted that Mr. B. Murray was subjected to annoyance and abuse when accused by his camp mates of writing to the Herald over the pen name of ‘‘Fangscrew.” The writer wishes to state here that Mr. Murray has never given him any data concerning the tunnels' on the railway to Napier; the details of. progress that were used were obtained from reports published in the Herald. These reports were open to anyone to study. As regards comparing driving rates in various tunnels by allowing for the difference in the nature and condition of the ground presumably Mr. Semple, as an old tunnel hand, made such an allowance when he estimated a future progress of live chains a month in the Tikiwhata tunnel last November. Yet the monthly progress in that tunnel for the five months prior to the Minister’s visit avera 2.2 chains, or less than half the estimated progress. The Waikoura tunnellers did better than this as their average driving rate for the period June to November was 4.3 chains a month. Would some tunneller explain the difference in the nature and condition of the ground in these two tunnels, where Waikoura progressed at twice the rate of Tikiwhata, bearing in mind that Mr. Semple expected Tikiwhata to drive five chains a month, which is a bit better than the actual Waikoura progress? FANGSCREW.