THE TUNNEL.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14986, 5 June 1914, Page 2

THE TUNNEL.

DUPLICATION PROPOSAL.

APPROVED BY HARBOUR,

BOARD.

The proposal of the Government to duplicate tho Lytteiton tunnel was favourably received at the meeting ol the Lytteiton Harbour Board yesterday. Pursuant to notice Mr H. Friedlander moved:—"l bat in lieu .of notice of motion dated 24th November last and reading: 'A committee bo 6et up to consider and report on the question of duplicating the line through the Lytteiton tunnel, such, committee to take specially into consideration wiiat benefit the port and district would derive, also how the Board could eventually be leimbuised lor the total auiouut exirtiuuixl,' tne iouonuig oe j>iiitaucu..eu, viz..: "L M & iumiiwur oi xtu.i»'a.>s, tiiO opinion u.ut tue uupiKUuiou 01 lue ran way hub ujuuoii w.e is oi uci.>.».i,j, Xioaiu tue iVi.uiotvr'e oj .uion, xua nieuAUoi-s Laviiifa ior some oousiueiaoie time paot leit sucu aquation will be tuo Uieans oi overcoming t, ie C ongeatiou Oi t,.e kiuinc betu-eeu E-IZotlon ana CurisSiCnurch. 'liiat the Hallway uiie.it Oo no tinea" mat u,i o will be piepaied to pui chase tiie material tio.u tue proposed tunnel at two sninings per ton ue.ivered on mc foot of the western bieakwater pro vided the work is commenced widiin twelve out he from tie date feieof.'" Mr Friedlander said there was really no necessity for the first notice of motion, for the Government had deciaod to do what was asked. It would be as well, however, for tlio Board to endorse the acton of the Government. The latter part of the motion was h> tended to extend some help to the Depal tment in the way of purchasing the material from the proposed tunnei The Board might, if it chose, wait until the Government, anxious to cet nd of that mateiial, ofleied it to the lioard for nothing, but he thought it was tho duty of the Board to do what it could in helping to have improved railway facilities between Lytteiton and Cnristchurch. The Board wu!d be put to no loss in the matter, for at present it cost 2s per ton for material tor the reclamation area. The electrification of the tunnel was a secondary matter altogether. Duph cation was what was wanted to relieve the piesent congestion. Mr M J. Miller said he believed tho mlarged tunnel would do away with f u-fT^ 6 nu , i ; ance - Electrification, if «anted, could come at any time, but Implication was an urgent necessity Mr Geo Scott said that Mr Fried _ander should first of all have ascertained, what the cost to the Board would DO

that" Fr ' edlander sasd h e ta <i done

In reply tp Mr C. J. Harper, the chairman said that the Government oould only dispose of the waste matena! to the Harbour Board. It would •ofc pay to take it anywhere else Mr Kaye agreed with the motion. i he cost to the Board, ho said, wouki be about £10,000, but it was the duty of the Board to encourage and-assist che Government.

Mr Allison proposed an amendment Hat the matter be postponed until th? next meeting, and that in the mean line the engineer prepare an estimate )f the probable cost of tho proposed purchase to the Board; also whether she spoil coming from the tur.nel woul bo such as the Board could profitablj ake delivery of. Mr Little "who seconded the amend nent, said the Board, if it adopted the notion, would onljr be giving a further old to the Government in tho matter )f raising railway rates. T*he chairman said he was sorry to ie on the Board some members who aliys opposed anything that was in tht .nterests of Canterbury. Mr Allison: Speak for yourself. The chairman: I am glad to see that chose members are in a respectable minority. Mr Moore then spoke in terms of hearty approval of the motion, which, he said, would assiet the Government and cost the Board nothing. He can\;atulated the members and the General Manager on what they were doin? to improve railway'facilities between Christchurch and Lyttelton. Mr Scott said he could not support ■;uch a resolution unless he had some igures before him. It was a great iity that the chairman had spoken so strongly concerning canal advocates on ho Board. Mr Friedlander said the Harbour Board had been ignored when the deputation, was organised to meet the .linistei\ That was not the first time such a thing had happened, and it was not right. There were really only two members on tho Board who opposed the motion, but tho~e members opposed anything which they considered could j in any way prejudice the Canai project in the future. The shortage of trucks was due to the practice of making up long mixed trains made necessary by the fact of having a singlo track. Approximately the cost of purchasing the uaterial would be £10,000. The Board would want the material in any case and the use of tho material would enable tho reclamation works to be completed at an earlier date. The engineer said it was estimated that 100,000 tons of material would come from the tunnel, which would represent -ilo,ooo. The Board could use a great deal more than the 100,000 tons in the present reclamation works which would take some, five or six years to complete. The amendment was lost, and the motion earned.