BRIDGE COLLAPSES.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1916, Page 5

BRIDGE COLLAPSES.

THE WAIWAKAIHO FERROCONCRETE STRUCTURE. RIVER A RAGING TORRENT,; Something- in the nature of a MBit*, tion was caused in New Plymouth last 1 evening when it was learned tfoat Waiwakaiho traffic bridge had ool« la|>BL'd, and that all traffic between New; 'Plymouth and the extensive outlying s district to the north had been »us« pended.

The torrential rain of warmth which fell yesterday and the] day before caused the snow on Mount Kgmont to melt to an unusual degree,' and the melted snow and heavj; rain, Hooded* the Waiwakaiho River. ' The river lose to fully Ave feet above its normal level, and all day yesterday ii was a raging' torrent. Evidence of the; force of the current may be gauged! from the fact that the water, ai it) struck the wooden fenders which serra as a, protection to the wooden raflwajj bridge spanning the river at Fitzroy, was into the air five or si* feet. From"the railway bridge to tha ieiro-concrete traffic bridge, a distance) of about 50 feet, the eastetn bank felt the force of the water very severely, and erosion set in. The erosion caused tlie first tier of piles and the approaches on the eastern .side to weaken, and at( ft o'clock, when the torrent was at its fullest height, about 30 feet of 'the; structure on the eastern end fell into} the water. The bridge was snapped 1 clean at a point close to the second! tier of piles, and, as the result of'the, fracture and tOie force of the the. whole structure shook and swayed.; The bank of the river, which had heW tha approaches, was broken to a deptk of several feet, and left a dean drop| from the roadway to the level of thqj stream. '',

As so6n as tlie accident was discovered, Constable Boulton was <spjnmunicated with, and he at once Jwoeeeded to the scene of the accident'and took precautions to warn passing motorists and others desirous of crossing the river. Two, men crossed thej railway bridge, and were just in timei to stop a motorist approaching from the east. Had the latter not been warned in time, nothing could havo saved him from driving his car into tha river.

Mr. W. H. Cook, the borough engi-: neer, was summoned, and he stationed borough employees at both approaches, and caused warning lights to be placed, in position. The town police were engaged ftr some time in warning all motor traffic parsing in the direction of Fiteroy-Ct the accident.

Large numbers, on hearing the information, visited the scene of thai accident.

By the accident a number'of people) living in the vicinity of the new frewiiig works'will he isolated, and great inconvenience will be experienced by people who depend upon the bridge for their means of entrance to New Fly* mouth.

It is understood that steps will M once bo taken to connect the undunaged portion of the bridge with thai eastern bank by a temporary wooden structure that will serve for Hg.'.t tvnilic until plans for a permanent connection are decided upon. The bridge was built in 1907. Threis or four years ago it became apparent that the pillars were being affected bj|j erosion, and an agreement was come to between the County Council, tin Borough Council, and the 'Public Works Department to build a barrage just below the bridge, to prevent the erosion. The work of making huge concrete blocks has been in hand for some time. There has been considerable time lost over the work, which should have been, completed a guod while ago, and for this Government circumlocution is chiefly to blame.