OTIRA TUNNEL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 290, 1 September 1920, Page 6

OTIRA TUNNEL

THE RIVAL TENDERS. The net tenders received for the electrification of the Otira tunnel were as follow : National Electrical and Engineering Co i28i,012 English Electric Company £264,9i3 Tho actual figures submitted by the English Electric Company were £313,467, but this sum covered a considerable amount of apparatus not tendered for by the National Electrical Company. This amount subtracted from the .company 6 tender gives the amount of .£264,973 stated above, and shows that when reduced to the same basis the English Company's price was more favourable to tho extent of £19,038. The Government has tentatively accepted this tender. In addition to the tender of .£284,012, the National Electrical Company submitted seven other alternatives, making eight tenders in all, as follow:— 1 .£284,012 la ,£299,362 2 £287,382 2a £302,762 3 .£305,333 3a £325,800 i £316,915 >4a £337,385 Alternatives 1, 2, 3, and i are for major machinery of American manufacture, and tho alternatives la to 4a are for the supply of major machinery of British manufacture. , . , . ~ As has already been explained m the House of Representatives by the Minister of Public Works, one of the main considerations in deciding which tender should bo accepted was that of efficiency. It is important that there should be no breakdown nor delay in the conveyance of goods and passengers through the tunnel. The English oompnny made tho necessary provision for duplication to ensure reliability.