The Globe. MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1876.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 737, 30 October 1876, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1876.

The report of the Commissioners appointed by the Government to report upon the causes which led to the disastrous foundering of the Brunner Suspension Bridge, has been published, and is now a record of the proceedings of the House of Representatives. As our readers may recollect, this work was within a few days of being opened for traffic, and the whole thing collapsed early one morning, no one being present to witness the stupendous crash. Heard it was, however, and that far and wide, for miles around. The bridge—a work of very considerable utility indeed —was designed by the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr Carruthers, at the Wellington offices, and was intended to facilitate the development of that all-important industry, the Greymouth coal, by assisting its transit to the coast over the Brunner Gorge. We are afraid to say how many thousand pounds the structure cost, but when the disaster occurred it was stated in the House by the Minister of Public Works that some two thousand pounds would pay for the repairing of the damage done. Considering that the whole span of wire-roping, «fcc, disappeared in the depths below, leaving the pillars on each shore alone remaining, this statement of Mr Richardson’s must be accepted with caution. However, the two Commissioners, Messrs Knight and Eitz Gerald, went, saw, took evidence, reduced it to comprehensive writing, and here it is for the delectation or otherwise of those more particularly concerned. As usual, the report contains fact, offers certain deductions and—blames no one in particular. ’Tis the old story about the cream jug; “the cat did it.” Or to quote the traditional verdict of a worn-out and puzzled Coroners’ Jury, it is a case of “ Died by visitation of “ God.” The pith of the report, however, is contained in those few sentences, wherein the Commissioners explain the immediate cause of the collapse. The two large wire ropes, which form the main stay of the entire structure, stretched over the tops of the pillars, and at acute angle were bolted into some heavy slabs of iron, technically called “ anchor-plates,” the chains forming the extremities of the wireropes in question. Those anchors were perforated by a number of holes through which were bolted the ends of the chains, and it is to the snapping of the anchors that the immediate cause of the foundering of the bridge was due. But a tunnel had been built up on each side to receive them, and when in a proper position, with a correct and uniform degree of tension brought to bear by the anchors’ screw-bolts upon the chains—it was intended to fill in these tunnels with concrete masonry which would have effectually secured the immoveable solidity of the work. The anchor-plates unfortunately gave way before this was done, the delay, it seems, having occurred on account of some misunderstanding. Mr. Carruthers told the Commissioners that it was his intention to have had this masonry—six feet in depth—put in as soon as the ropes were adjusted, and that he gave verbal instructions to that effect. But it is noticeable that neither in the specifications, nor in the plans, is there any allusion to this filling up of the tunnels. The District Engineer, on the other hand, stated that it was desirable, if not necessary, to retain the power of regulating the strain on the chains by means of the anchor-screws, after the roadway was completed, which could not have been done had the chains been buried in concrete. Against that, Mr. Carruthers affirms that no adjustment was required after the chains were once brought to a suitable strain, and thought that the District Engineer, Mr. O’Connor, understood that the masonry was to be built in as soon as the chains were in position. Here lies the gist of the whole matter, and a difference of opinion between the two engineers having charge of the works; one theoretically, as the author of the plans and specifications, the other practically, as the superintendent of their being carried out. An attempt made to throw blame upon the casting of the anchor-plates was disregarded by the Commissioners, but they thought that, while the castings were tolerably good, cast iron, pure et simple, should not have been used, but iron admixed with a proportion of wrought metal. Strange that the only possible cause to which the smash could be attributed was one depending upon certain instructions to do a certain thing, which

instructions were not in writing, and the object of which was not even mentioned in the specifications ! This nine days’ wonder is almost buried in the past, however; no one is blamed in the report, no incompetency or neglect is pointed at, no indifferent workmanship is complained of, but the parties concerned are allowed to escape scot free to try their hands again, no doubt at engineering at the further expense of the patient and elastic taxpayer.