RAILWAY REPAIRS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 April 1935, Page 11

RAILWAY REPAIRS

FLOOD DAMAGE WORKSATISFACTORY PROGRESS. It is reported that the work of repairing flood damage to Taranaki railways is progressing. satisfactorily. The railway bridge over the Waiwakaiho River at New. Plymouth has settled firmly after having' been forced out of line in the February flood. Bridgegangs have completed repair work and the bridge will not have to be replaced, though it is. on the schedule for rebuilding in 1937. The bridge under construction over the Waiongona was not affected.

At Durham Road, where a big washout occurred, a new and bigger culvert will replace the damaged structure. ’ The washout at Norfolk Road has required . the construction of a small new bridge. The underpinning of two bridges near Tariki was started before the flood, and the new .work was not damaged. At Waipuku, where the damage was caused because the road culvert was inadequate to cai-ry the flood water, ‘ an overflow pipe is being put in the railway culvert. It is expected work there will be completed at the end of the week. ’ . Groynes were carried away on two bridges between Waipuku and' Midhirst in the first flood in March and the bridgestructure was undermined. At Stratford a groyne also was carried away recently. The damage is being repaired. . On the Tangarakau—Heao section of the New Plymouth—Auckland main trunk line about 40 slips had to be dealt with. No permanent measures to avoid, future slips are possible beyond increasing the batter of the cuttings, and it is not expected that the last of the big slips has been seen. The fillings on the line were undamaged. . ,