£47,714 a Mile

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 837, 4 December 1929, Page 8

£47,714 a Mile

RAILWAY WORKS IN NORTH EARTHWORK* slipping from hillsides into theivalloy ™ tl t spreading like a lava flow; newly ed emba k ments crumbling while yet being formed ;l ™*”** tr^ n lying in undulations—these are melancholy sights to he see on the Okaihau-Rangialiua section now under co.natruc'tion n continuation of the North Auckland Mam Titmk railwa. .

While on their recent tour, members of the Commerce Train party were given an opportunity to view the progress of constructional work on the new section. Every inch of this much-discussed eight miles of railway was traversed by business men from the city. Following the inspection, the line, which had hitherto remained something of a political secret —the keeping of which doubtless was rendered the easier by the isolation of the locality—has stood prominently in the news. From expressions of astonishment at the difficulties confronting the engineers, the majority of the visitors later turned to outspoken disapproval that the line should ever have been attempted in country which, even to the layman’s eye, was unstable geologically. At present the trunk railway terminates at Okaihau. The settlement commands from its elevation of 800 ft a wide sweep of country. Immediately below Okaihau lies the Waihou Valley, fertile, productive. By a good metal road the entrance to the valley stands distant from Okaihau railway station less than three miles. EIGHT-MILE DETOUR

It was decided to tap the Waihou by rail, and all the village wondered. To descend that 800 ft trains will have to saunter eight miles —going “downstairs” 100 ft for each mile of track covered. The survey took the shortest route possible, but modern railway practice allows of no heavier grade than 1 in 50. So it was that in order not to exceed the grade the mighty detour was inevitable. Standing at the beginning of the incline one can follow with the eye the entire eight miles of cutting and filling. The line thrusts deep into the hillsides, descending all the time, skirts more hills and doubles back in a horseshoe, the arms of which are not more than a mile and a-half apart as the crow flies! This should not be confused with the famous “balloon loop” which is another remarkable piece of railway architecture at Kirikopuni, 100 miles away.

The eight miles is not the full length of the -section, but comprises

the worst part. The route from Okaihau to Rangiahua measmes 14 miles, the last six of which follov. easy country. Accompanying the Commerce Party was Mr. J. McEnnis district Public Works engineer for the whole >■ Auckland area, and as the tram picked its way over that precarious eight miles he pointed out th ® men had met with iu building the line. By the creeping of the spoil the track had been carried laterally a chain or more Jin several places. It was brought back, only to be distorted with the next rains. Elaborate, and necessarily costly, safeguarding -works had then to be undertaken before the line showed any sign of consolidation. The line -was started four years ago and is expected to be completed two years hence.

IMMENSE CONSTRUCTION COST Already £421,000 has been sunk, and to complete it an additional £247,000 will be involved, the total therefore being £663,000 a cost of £47,714 a mile. A striking illustration of the problems to he solved in the North is found a little this side of Tangowahine, which is the railhead on the Kiriko-pui-Dargaville extension. A bridge rising only seven feet from a swamp is supported on piles 130 ft long! The engineers almost despaired of finding bottom, and before a foundation was reached the piles had to be spliced and cradled for a length which is a New Zealand record. Another explanation of high rail costs up North lies in the fact that construction has been made the subject of unemployed relief. In the winter work has been commanded to proceed -when conditions and ordinary economics shouted for a cessation. This is what the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. E. A. Ransom, said about the line in his statement to Parliament last session: “The extension of the North Auckland Main Trunk is not proposed beyond Rangiahua, where the railway will make contact ■with the Hokianga waters. ... I consider that as so much money has been spent on the section, it is desirable that the portion should be completed-, so that the district penetrated might have the advantage of railway convenience.”