Big Tunnelling Job On East Coast Rail Extension

Chronicle (Levin), 1 May 1948, Page 5

Big Tunnelling Job On East Coast Rail Extension

GISBORNE, April 30.' The completion of the MatawaiTaneafua link i'n the northern railwaA-s lietween Gisborne and Auckland was urged by the Gisborne-East Coast Regional Couneil at a eonference with the Public .Works Engineer-in-Chief (Mr. F. Langbein) today. Air. Langbein was asked how* far the investigations promised by the Minister had progres'secl. My. Langbein said it would be sillv to start the work how while the hydro

schemes were absorbing so much manpower, especiallv tunnellers. The surveying of the route recjuired specialists of which the Department had a very limited number. The job liad been surveyed by three routes already and he had been informed that the difficulties of the Raurimu spiral were modest compared with the engineering problems between Matawai and Opotiki. When experieneed engiheers were available the route problems would bb thoroughly investigated. There was nothing impossible ifrom the. engineering view point in the link. The main question was whether construction were possible within econonxic or reasonable limitS. Air. A. G. Thornton, dist-r-ict engineer at Hamilton, said he worked on the second survey of the Matawai-Opotiki route two years ago when the estimate was £3,000,000. It involved a succession of tunnels for 85 miles with no space for railway yards. Tunnelling costs had since trebled.