ROAD TO MILFORD.

Wairarapa Age, 13 March 1935, Page 7

ROAD TO MILFORD.

TENDERS CALLED FOB TUNNEL. ' THIRTY MONTH CONTRACT. (By Telegraph—“ The Age” iSpecial). WELLINGTON, March 12. » Tenders are being called by the Public Works Department for construction of a tunnel, sixty chains, or threequarters of a mile in length, beneath the Homer Saddle on the Eglinton Valley tourist road. If the Government accepts a contract, the work is to be finished within thirty months of the date of acceptance, and tenders will i close on May 7. The construction of this tunnel will give road access from the east to the sea at Milford Sound. The new road from its junction with the main road at Te Anau, will be 74 miles long, and the tunnel occurs at about 63 miles from the junction. The rocky nature of the country will enable the greater part of the tunnel to be constructed without concrete lining, though for the first two or three chains at either end it is intended to line the structure, because it will be fessing beneath fairly loose rock. The approach road up the Hollyford River is under active construction, but to give early access to the* eastern, end of the proposed tunnel a special road along the valley is being provided for the contractor’s use. The specifications disclose that although the tunnel may be constructed with a road width of ten feet, plus small footways on both sides, the Department will obtain from the contractors their quotation for additional excavation on a yardage basis, so that if the price is satisfactory, the whole tunnel may be constructed with a eighteenfeet roadway suitable for two-way traffic. The western approach will be on a grade of one in ten, and immediately on entering, the grade will change to a downward one of the same angle, which is to be maintained throughout the 70 chains of its length. The continuation of the road through the Hollyford will be on a somewhat easier grade. The specification proves for completion of headings within .18 months, and the whole contract within 30 months. At one point the tunnel will be between 1,500 and 1,800 feet below the saddle, and the whole project will bring Milford Sound within 139 miles of the Lumsden railhead.