PROGRESS OF TUNNEL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20096, 16 November 1939, Page 6

PROGRESS OF TUNNEL

EAST COAST RAILWAY WORK AT TIKIWHATA COMPLETION NEXT YEAR “The completion of the largest tunnel on the Gisborne-Wairoa section of the East Coast railway, known as the Wniau-Tikiwhnta tmine! 1, will be realised in the late spring of next year if the present progress continues,” said the district engineer of the Public Works Department, Mr. O. G. Thornton, in an interview today.

There were two main difficulties in making an estimate of the time that would be taken to complete the job, one being the nature of the formation being penetrated and the other the effect of the war on the workers, said Mr. Thornton. Some months saw comparatively little progress made because of the hard rock that It ad to be drilled, but the going had been fairly easy lately.

The tunnel was 231 miles from Gisborne bv rail, and the work entailed the cutting through of approximately 148 chains. To date 8.31 chains of the tunnel had been completed, leaving .'l2 chains to do at each end. The progress was steady now. and

‘ **'-'*». the concreting of the wails was being kept up to within a close distance of the head. Trouble had been experienced for some time with the concreting work, but that had disappeared and the men on that section had been enabled to keep pace with the tunnellers.