Rangitata Bridge Completed

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21379, 23 June 1939, Page 5

Rangitata Bridge Completed

Official Opening To-morrow

Minister to Perforin

Ceremony

It Is a far step from the days when bullock waggons steered a perilous course over the Rangitata River to the present time when a modem bridge awaits but the morrow to fulfil its purpose as a corollary to the development of transport. The new ferro-concrete bridge Is yet another phase in the development of Canterbury and the most important project undertaken in the province in recent years. The official ceremony of opening the bridge, which will be performed by the Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) to-morrow will therefore have a special significance for the people of Canterbury in that the new route which is 10 miles shorter than the original one will bring the inhabitants closer together in time and probably in interest. In the early days the building of bridges and roads was more a matter of expediency which was often to be found in the path of least resistance. Hence it was that many of the original roads followed a circuitous course. Modern tools and machinery have made it possible to surmount these difficulties, and in the last few years great progress has been made in forming more direct contact between towns. The effect has been to make people realise that there is a common interest among citizens of the Dominion regarding fundamentals. Although the Rangitata Bridge will only bring the people of the north and south a few minutes closer, at the same time it will contribute something to a better understanding of the problems of other communities, and it may act as a stimulus to even greater development in the means of transport which Is vitally linked with the progress of New Zealand. Construction Work As the Rangitata flows in two streams with Rangitata Island between which is approximately a mile wide, two separate bridges were constructed at a cost of £43,000. The north span was started on January 12, 1938 and completed on November 4 in the same year. The south bridge was commenced on January 9, 1939, and finished this month. The north bridge, which is the larger of the two, consists of 53 spans with an over-all length of 2160 ft. The piles, which are 16 inches in diameter, are arranged in sets of four and are spaced at intervals of 40 feet. The south bridge has 26 spans and is 1040 feet in length. The structure is of ferroconcrete throughout and presents a

neat and trim appearance. According to a statement made by the engineer (Mr A. Neilson) who was in charge of the construction, the work was finished almost three months ahead of schedule. This was accomplished in spite of the hard nature of the ground —which is considered to be the hardest in South Canterbury and made pile driving exceedingly difficult—and the floods last year which delayed operations. The fact that the timetable was not only caught up with, but exceeded, reflects great credit on the workers and is a tribute to the engineer. The work of building the approaches which necessitated the use of thousands of cubic yards of metal, was undertaken by the Public Works' Department. At the south end of the south bridge the approach which is four chain long, had to be built to a height of five feet and for this purpose a 100 h.p. tractor with a carryall attached was commissioned and shingle from the north side of the south branch of the river was hauled across for the formation work. Similar work was entailed in the building of the north approach to the south bridge which is five and a half chain long to a height of eight feet. The north and south approaches to the north are of similar length to the south ones and these were completed a considerable time ago. From (he north side of the Orari bridge to Ealing the road has not been tar-sealed, but it is expected that this will be done in the near future. With the exception of this strip the rest of the main highway between Timaru and Christchurch has been tar-sealed. The present main south road branches from Winchester to Arundel and cuts through at right angles to Hinds. The new bridge will enable

traffic to proceed through Winchester to Orari and across the Rangitata River to Ealing and from there to Hinds. As the new route is almost a straight line the distance by road from Timaru to Christchurch will be lessened by 10 miles. When the project was first mooted Geraldine strongly objected on the grounds that it would be removed from the main highway and that this would be detrimental to the interest of the town. The agitation to have the scheme altered was strong and protracted and although Geraldine’s claims were not acceded to it was decided to recondition Cain’s Road which runs from the Rangitata to the north side of the Orari Bridge. This work will be taken in hand in the near future.