PROTECTION OF BRIDGES.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 294, 17 June 1895, Page 2

PROTECTION OF BRIDGES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR. Sir, — Some time ago a suggestion was made in the Star about burning i all timber on the banks of streams in order to lessen driftwood, and thereby decrease the danger to bridges, which are mostly carried away through the logs and drittwood lodging against the piles of the bridges. Would it not be i i advisable if the Road Boards (or those I who have charge of bridges) were to construct something on or near the piles of bridges so as to turn the logs i which float down the stream crosswise, ■ and also to ease the shock of the collision. A pile, or a strong plank supj ported by piles driven into the bed of I the stream, should be extended up the stream in a line with the piles of the ; bridge and at a grade of about one in three from above high-water mark to the bed of the stream. A log, when floating down the stream (crosswise), would be forced up on to this structure, and, not being balanced, carried round by the force of the current, thereby keeping clear of the piles. A structure similar to this, but built of concrete, is being successfully used in some, parts of Germany for breaking or turning blocks of ice. I fully believe that by adopting the above method Road Boards and Councils would save the ratepayers no end of money, and bridges being washed away would be a thing of the past. I am, &c, Chas. Bensemann.