OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY

Dunstan Times, Issue 892, 23 May 1879, Page 3

OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY

—o — The construction of the Otago Central line of railway is to ho commenced at once. The tender of Mr Daniel M‘Kenzie for the Wingatni contract was accepted yesterday, the amount of the tender being L-15,539 7s 101. Tiiis tender is for tbs formation of the first section of the line, some 0 miles Co chains in'iongth, hut the greater portion of it is ov r exceedingly rough country, by far the worst the line will have to traverse. The Wingatni contract commences at about half ;l mile to the South of the Cham Hills tunnel, on the main South line. It ext'-mls in a north-westerly direction across the Taicn Plain, then shirts the lulls at the hack of.Mr Donald lloid’s’property, and finally crosses’ the ranges into Mullocky dully, where it te, minutes at a distance of 0 miles 05 chains from its commencement at at the Wingatni station. The earthworks of the first two or three miles arc comparatively light, being merely surface formation. From this point forward the works are of a heavy nature. There arc numerous heavy cuttings and two tunnels. One of the tunnels, at o| miles from Wingatni station, is 220 yards long ; and the second one, which pierces the saddle at Mullocky Gully, is 3159 yards. One of the embankments to he made will require the filling in ofagully S7 foot. The largest bridge in the contract is to he made over the Sdverstream, and will bo a wooden structure, consisting of three spans of GO feet each. The only other bridge is to he a stone one over the Xortii Taieri road. The following are the grades of the section of the line now under contract:— From Wingatni for 2 miles 53 chains the ground is comparatively level, thence to (5 miles 29 chains the gade is 1 in 50 ; fur a distance of 9 chains the lino is then level, and thence to the end of flic present contract there will he a descending grade of 1 m 50. As will he scon from the cost of formation—over L7OOO per mile —this portion of the line is difficult of construction, fortunately there is very little more like it on the proposed Otago Central Hallway, which, the most part, will run over level country. The work specified in this contract is to he completed within 20 months from the date of the acceptance of the tender.