STRATFORD TO AUCKLAND

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 6, 8 September 1913, Page 7

STRATFORD TO AUCKLAND

BIG TUNNEL CONTRACT. Tho contract for the construction of ,tlie .big funnel yearly, a, mile in length at the northern'. ~etwl C of; t!,ip Stratl'ord-Ohakukura railway, as has been .at^ed )( ,ha,s been, .let by the public Works*-Pertinent. ,1© ant Auckland contractor,,W. -Eorrest, and the contract agreement] has. been signed. The; contract,,.price ,i5y.£97,000, and three years is to be allowed for the construction of tunnel.

(With the completion of. tins contract the provinces of Auckland and Taranaki will bo connected by railway. The Department, with ' ! co-operative ■lal>or, . has already ii constructed one ttiile and'' .a quarter of . trriidt ’ fi;Q,)n Okahukunaßto the point, at which' the present .contract begins; v The tunnel is to he 75 chains in length,: and will run through a. hill 700 ft high. .The railway formation at, each end of the proposed tunnel is through a succession of small hills. -

Auckland advices state the tunnel contract is to bo commenced at once with 20 men. This number is to be augmented every week until a total or about 200 men are employed. The difficulty of getting a full plant over temporarily constructed roads will he a factor in delaying rapid progress at the commencement of the work.

It is proposed to start sinking a ■shaft and driving the tunnel from the eastern end of the hill at once, and to sink a similar e shaft and commence driving from the western end in about two months. In the meantime tin railway formation and approaches will ho pushed ahead. While the contract time for the work, namely, three years—four years was the period originally specified—is considered to he rather short, it is anticipated that, with a special effort, the work wilt he finished within the shorter period.