SELWYN BRIDGE NOW OPENED FOR TRAFFIC.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18341, 19 December 1927, Page 5

SELWYN BRIDGE NOW OPENED FOR TRAFFIC.

MOTORISTS NEED NO LONGER FEAR SHINGLE BED OR RISE OF WATER AT FORD.

WITH the official opening thi one of the worst features been banished, and the only bri and Dunedin has been welded, general for purposes of business Selwyn has been the motorists’ shingle bed that was difficult of subject to rapid and extensive r: motor-cars to get across, and loi

To-day’s opening ceremony agitation, and brings appreciate road from Picton to the Bluff. The Main South Road, the highway between Christchurch and Dunedin, crosses the Selwyn River at a point where four counties meet, and the business centres of the whole four are remote from the bridge site. All the counties have other roads which carry more of their local traffic than the main highway, consequently they have never been keenly enough interested to construct or maintain the South Road up to a very high standard, and the Selwyn retained until now the distinction of being the only river on the highway which was not bridged. Motor-cars Stopped. The Selwyn has a wide bed of loose shingle and is liable to sudden rises which send down a volume of water in varying channls which, though not deep enough to affect the horse-drawn and high-wheeled vehicles of past years, were an effectual barrier to the recent-ly-developed motor traffic, to which two or three feet of water on a soft shingle bottom is fatal. About 1912 the motorists began t.o agitate for a bridge over the river and interviewed the county council concerned with a view to devising means of allocating the cost. The counties showed little enthusiasm for the project, contending that the motor traffic which would use the bridge was not their traffic, and in addition their financial resources would not readily permit of their incurring the large expenditure which a substantial and permanent bridge would entail. The Government was approached by more than one deputation and offered to bear half the cost. The motorists through their association offered to find £BOO or £9OO, and urged the county councils v concerned to ask for a commission to allocate the balance. Counties Hesitate. Still the counties hesitated, and no definite progress was made until the Highways Act came into force in 1924, The condition of the ford and main road on either side then became the subject of rmich discussion, but the Highways Board’s offer of half the cost was not sufficient to ensure the erection of a bridge. There were more conferences and finally the Highways Board had plans of a suitable ferro-concrete bridge prepared. The estimated cost was £IB,OOO, and an assessment of part of the cost (practically 20 per cent) was made among the seventeen county councils in Highways District No. 14, in which the bridge is situated. All the counties agreed to the assessment, and Ashburton County, though outside the Highways District, made a voluntary contribution of £SO. Construction Assured. In 1925 financial provision was assured and tenders were invited for the construction of the bridge. Tenders were actually received but some doubt arose as to whether the reinforced concrete piles provided for in the specification could be driven in the riverbed of compact shingle. Elaborate tests with ordinary plant were made without much success, and finally a special and powerful' pile-driving plant owned by the Government was brought to the site and the pile driving problem was at an end The tenders had meanwhile been de-

is afternoon of the Selwyn bridge, •s of South Island motoring has *oken link between Christchurch Ever since motoring became > and pleasure the crossing of the >’ bugbear. Possessing a loose [ negotiation at any time, it was rises that made it impossible for ng detours became necessary, marks the end of long years of ly nearer the ideal of a perfect dined and the Public Works Department commenced the erection of the bridge with its own plant and staff in September, 1926. A camp was established on the river bank and a party of experienced workmen under Overseer A. M. Lyon were soon busy. Progress was steady and uninterrupted from the start anl span after span rose across the shingle bed until the final batch of concrete was placed on September 10, 1927. It was intended to cover the deck with bitumen paving, but tenders- for this part of the work were not considered satisfactory, and a three-inch pavement of concrete was placed instead. Meanwhile substantial approaches of shingle were being placed at either end of the concrete structure, graded and fenced, till to-day the whole structure is completed, hardened and ready for the heaviest traffic likely to use the road. Description of the Bridge. The bridge consists of thirty-five spans each thirty feet long, or a total length of 1050 feet, and carries a roadway eighteen feet in width. There are 144 octagonal piles of concrete, each weighing about two tons, reinforced with 32 tons of steel in all. There are four longitudinal beams, the outer ones 36 inches by 12 inches and the inner ones 27 inches by 14 inches. Each span has two transverse equidistant beams 17 inches by 8 inches carried on piers 21 inches thick, 7 feet deep, and 21 feet wide. Concrete posts Sin by Sin carry a concrete handrail Sin by 6 in, the spacings being taken up by an openwork concrete panel 2in thick. There are in the bridge 1800 cubic yards of concrete, 132 tons of reinforcing steel and six tons of locally manufactured ironwork* The result is a very handsome and well-balanced structure, and a striking feature on a length of the highway which was hitherto far from popular with motorists. Allocation of Cost. The total cost of the bridge including approaches and fencing, was £18,300. The local bodies who have contributed part of the cost are £ Ellesmere County Council . Selwyn County Council 800 Springs County Council 500 Malvern County Council 500 Paparua County Council 250 Waimiiri County Council 100 Halswell County Council 80 Ashburton County Council .... 50 Wairewa County. Council 40 Heathcote County Council .... 40 Akaroa County Council 30 Mt. Herbert County Council .... 30 Rangiora County Council 30 Eyre County Council 25 Oxford County Council 25 Kowai ‘County Council 20 Tawera County Council 15 Ashley County Council 15 Total £3BOO The balance of the cost has been provided by the Main Highways Board. The plans and specifications were prepared by the Public Works Department. The construction work was carried out under the supervision of the District Engineer, Mr F. Langbein, and the overseer in local charge was Mr A. M. Lyon.