WHERE EAST MEETS WEST

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 181, 26 April 1919, Page 8

WHERE EAST MEETS WEST

IN OTIRA TUNNEL

A STORY OF HUMAN ENDEAVOUR

By Will Lawson.

(All Eights Reserved) When a human enterprise of magnitude ia approaching successful completion tho interest of tho public in tho matter becomes a vital and almost aggressive thing. And to-day, when travellera for tho West Coast step off the traiu at Arthur's Pass; for tho first time they usually ask: "Where is tho tunnel?"- . . When their attention lis properly directed, they see across a labyrinth of construction tracks, to tho right of tho station, an archway of cement framing a ho'rseshoo of blackness. This is- the eastern end of tho great tunnel, through which tho electric locomotives will haul tho trains, linking the east and west, and bringing tho seaboards of two coasts within a few hours' travel of one another. There is-nothing about that dark entrance to indicate in which direction it leads in its passage under, tho Alps.-but just before the train enters Arthur s Pass station two monuments stand—concrete pillars set on high land where stood two , trig posts which wero used m the survey work. With these in lino of vision with the tunnel mouth, the direc-tion-is'discovered. Though'tlio tunnel links east and west, its direction is nearly due north and south, and from the Bealoy end it falls on -a constant grade of 1, foot in every 33 feet, so that in its length oft, 5t miles the fall from east to west is 840 feet-frem 2-iSO feet at Arthur a Pass to 1590 feet a.t Otira.; Every New Zealnnder knows that the Otira tunnel is a long one and that it pierces tho Southern Alps. But none can rightly estimate what such a lengtJi means and how it overcomes anatural barrier nntil an actual journey through tho tunnel has been made. After more than eleven years, of work Otira tunnel is through—a nar.row-gaugo tram runs from end to end. Standing at the Bcaley end of the big hole, where tho dynamos of tho powerhouso throb and hum and. the rumble of the electric tram locomotives conies out of the dimly-liehted tunnol, ono • may bo pardoned for looking back over tho years to the timo' when man first sought a way '-across tlieso mountains. History tells us that Wore the white man came, tho Maoris of the eastern seaboard made periodic to the West Coast to seek tho precious greenstone. 'They crossed tho Alps by various ways, their taost-freqiiented track being that from the Aniuri Plains over Lewis Pass and down Cannibal Gorge to-the head-waters of the Bnller River. Prom the place where Westport now is, the Maoris coasted south to the greenstone country. In stormy weather, when overland travel was the only kind possible, they crossed by tho Hurunui Gorgo and by Arthurs Pas 3. 'It was by following a Maori .path and enlarging it for the nassapo of horses, that the fir-'t crossing if tie Alps was, made, in September,'. 1857, by a civil encrineer,. the late Air. F/hvnnl Dobson. who surveyed r. -road through the gorge which was vsed later on when tho rush to tlie West' Coast goldfields began. , In the early seventies,' men began_to talk of a railway wliioh would link Chrietcliurch and Nelson with tho , Coast—it is a striking fact that in all these trans-Alpine schemes Nelson was keQn to-take a hand, as well as displaying somo activity in building a hue from Nelson towards Reefton. ' In 1878 active agitation for the line across .tho Alps began in Westland Christchurch, with Nelson makiug a third in the agitation. A public subscription was made to pay the cost of a flying survev of ft route.' The surveyors, Messrs. Thornton and. Brown, laid out a line through Cannibal Gorge!' At: Lewis Pass,, tho 'highest point of this route, an elevation 'of 2550 feet is reached, ond the surrounding country is liigli and open and ea6y, except in'the gorgo proper, and even there the engineering difficulties would not have been a serious matter. At that timo sixteen tunnels wero panned, ths longest, 21 miles long. Two million pounds'was tho estimated cost of this line, and there are experts to-day. who hold that, if it had been built tlio West Coast would have been linked with Jie East long ago. ' At tho lower end ot thi Cannibal Gorge there is a watershed, from which start tho Grey River, tho Inangahua, and the Marina, flowing respectively to Greymouth, Reefton, and Westport. Radiating lines,of lailway could_ have been built to these places and to Nelson by way of Murchison. ■ But'tlio Cannibal Gorge route was reported against, in company with that of Huranui Gorge, ■ further south, in 1883, by a Royal Commission, which urged ■ that the bost way to cross tho mountains was to go .north-west- from Springfield, the terminus at that time of the Christchurch line, and cross at Arthur's Pass, thenco proceeding to Stillwater, near Greymouth. In 6pite of .difficulties and adversities, this route has been adhered to, and so far as tha linking up of the tracks is concerned, tho line is through. It is in the accomplishing of this that the triumph of human courage and industry is to bo seen, . Following upon the report of the Royal Commission ft syndicate, .' consisting ot prominent citizens of tho Westland, Nelson. and Cantorbury provinces, was formed It was called the Chrystall- Syndicate. and it entered into a contract with a British Company to build 150 miles of railway on the selected route. After further .consideration, the_ contract was revised, and mado to provide for a lino from Springfield to the Nelson railway system, a distance of 235 miles, thc_ cost to bo 2| millions of money. - This is still known as tho Chrystall Contract. Owing to lack of financial support nothing was done till 188G, when the syndicate was floated into the Midland Railway Company, with a capital of .£500,000. In the interval of transition from syndicate to company, Meiggs and Sons, and South American railway contractors, offered to build the line in four years at a cost of The guarantee required by them' was considered too formidable, and the Midland Company proceeded to carry out tho work. In tho Midland Company's plan tho tunnel under Arthur's Pass was only threo miles long, and it pierced the hill at a point much higher up the. pass, liven this comparatively short tunnol daunted tho company for a time, and it was decided in 1888 'to. uso eithor the Fell or tho Abt system of mountain lino Specially-designed engines operating on a rack or friction grip wero to bo used in climbing on steep grades, as is done on the Riinutaka Hill. At Otirn to-day, the engineers will show you where it was intended to build this rack milway. The proposal, however, was not favoured by the Government engineers, who stated that in the uphill passage through the tunnel near tho top, every mail, womau, and child on tho train would bo 6iift'ocated.

Tho struggles of the Midland Company with tho natural obstacles, wrangles with tho Government over land values and financial difficulties, ended in. 1800 in the Government taking over the line. The Government engineers at once attacked tho problem .of the tunnel under the pass. They surveyed alternative routes and systems of haulage, pondering over tunnels ranging in length from four to eight milea. Finally, tho advice of an American export ivas sought. Mr. Boyne, a distinguished engiueor, came from the United States and inspected the pass in all its stubborn points of view. lie advised a ono-big-tunnel route, and with modifications by the Government engineer, his advice was followed. A contract was entered into with Messrs. .Toliu M'Loan and Sons for tho construction of tho tunnel at ft cost of .eGOO.OOO, and the work was to be completed at tho end of tho year 1912. The first shot was fired on May 5, 1908. Chiefly owing to [labour difficulties, the contractors were compelled to abandon the work and tho Government took it over before it was half completed. What the actual cost of tho tunnel will amount to cannot bo estimated. But so fyr as the work has gone, tho cost has been lower than that of tho Swiss tunnels of note, judged on a proportionate basis. Tho Government has had its troubles, 100, in this great undertaking, and when, on July 21, 1918, tho last obstruction • between tho eastern and western headings was removod by an historic 6hot, tho i satisfaction which comes of successful

achievement was expressed by all concerned with tho work. There is still moro than a year's work to bo done bcforo the full width and height of tho aroh aro completed throughout the tunnel. And an inspection of tho tunnel froui end to end impresses ono with tho idea of what an amount of human energy and persistence has been required to reduce tho solid rock mass to this smooth, finished tubo of concreto which passe 3 in a straight line botweon tho gorges on each sido of tho mountains. Along the track where tho West Coast mail will ono day thunder, our party tramped, clad in sou'-westors, oilskins, and gum-boots. The long perspective of electric lamps just made the darkness visible afar off down tho inclino of tho tunnel. An empty truck was requisitioned, and with acotylcne lamps alight, the brakes were released and the truck began to roll down the grade. "If' this tunnel is absolutely straight," someone asked, "why can't you eee tho daylight at the other ond?" "You'll understand when you've been through," the expert replied. The truck rolled faster. Overhead the light flickered on long stalactites that have • grown since the _ crown was cemented. The speed increased and tho truck rocked along. Then the tug of the brakes began'to tell,'and tho wheels settled down' into ft steady speed-song with more than a mile of clear track before them. "Look back at the daylight," one of the engineers said. The daylight visiblo was like a palo shadow of light, 110 stronger than waning moonlight, hnd ono understood why it would not l;o visible through a tunnel as long as this one. The truck slowed and stopped beside some immense pumps which used to pump this end of the tunnel dry) ere tho hole was put through and tho water allowed to run out by gravitation. There was a, sound like that of heavy rain 011 iron roofs and city pavements. Water from the roof was raining down on tile iron shelters of tho pumps and 011 the tracks. One could .J-iiagine a future passenger on tho West Coast mail saying that the] trio was fine from coast to coast except 111 the tunnel, whero it rained hard.' But it must be 'said of these wet places that as the cement sets they gradually dry, except for a certain amount of moisture which works down and runs out of the weepholes provided in tho walls. Eight through the tunnel will run 11 water channel to convey this soakage to tho Otira end. At tho present time tho outflow is estimated at seven heads of power. Tho curving walls of tlra tunnel are of concrete twelve Inches thick. But tho wetness of this pliice mailo it necessary .to uso a material which would set moro quickly for the crown of _ the tunnel, whore the water streams in in a way calculated to wash out any cement. Cubes of concrete, made at the Otira works, aro set in strong cement. The number of courses or rows used in tho tunnel varies with the locality and the-wetness. For tho greater part the rook is blaolc slate and grey wacko. Above these cubes n layer of m'althoid is laid to carry tho moisture down tho sides of tlw arch. At a point where the square shapes of timbers loomed into the iliglit, the truck was finally stopped,' and those that had ridden thus far. stepped into tho small torrent, winch unuml between the tracks beneath the timber.*. Willi lamps flaring in the draught—thorn is always astroiu; draught—'we splashed along, stopping often to examine tho strange fungus growths which liave mado long streamers from tho wet wood, and rock. Hero and there an escape of air hissed from the pipes carrying 'it to the rock drills. a"d at two places tho gush and sob of punijis wero heard. These, were pumping water to tho drills. And soon we heard 111 a olamour the high, loud noise of the rock drills, hammering at tho rock. Up in tho top heading, whither we climbed, they were at work, the water streaming down on the men in places. Mounted on a bar, each drill was point ed at the rock, and beat its • roaring tatl/00, while a' jet of water scattered the pulverised rock from the hole tlio drill was making. In these holes, later 011, tho gelignite charges aro placed and fired, and so the tunnel grows. Beneath the. top heading the electric locomotivos Tumbled, working to tho limit of the cable oacli of them carries, for use where' there aro 110 overhead wires. Par down the tunnel could lie seen .the rows of lamps leading into Westland. but abovo. 111 tho headings, then under streaming water, the menworked with' miners' lamps hooked on their hats, and clad in oilskins. Tho rock that they broke out was shot down into tho trucks to bo taken out. at both ends of the tunnel, for the work is still going on at both ends., Tho historic place where the two bores met is pointed out. There is nothing to mark it in tho way of any irregularity, and tho surveys were very accurate. In another truck that is detached from a line of wagons, wo resume the ride. This timo there arO threo miles of lighted tunnel to traverse. 011 and on the wheels hammer till a faint lignt comes into view, and the electric lamps begin to pale in the distance. And at last, with A clatter' of whoels on points, we are out into tho daylight again at tho Otira end, whero there is a far-reach-ing array of workshops' and machinery houses. Elcctric power and air pressure aro created hero, and thero aro repair "shops and stores in plenty, while abovo them and above tho brawling liolleston River are tho homes, of the engineers and men, some of 'whom havo been on this job since it was started, and will stay till it is completed. With tho completion of tho tunnol, the problem of finding a source of power to drive the generators which will givel tho impulse to tho great electric locomotives has to bo solved. The troublo is that most of tho available water supplies aro depleted in winter' by the freezing of tho lofty gullies. And it is possible that a steam-driven plant may yet havo to be used, at least at certain seasons.