THE BRUNNER RAILWAY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1509, 5 June 1873, Page 2

THE BRUNNER RAILWAY.

[to the editor.] Sir —l think anyone who walked as far as the gorge of the river during the flood to-day must have been convinced of the impossibility of carrying out the railway in accordance with the present plans. These plan 3, as no doubt most of your readers are aware, provide for an embankment extending from the breakwater at the quarry over the shingle bed and on th c very edge of the river bank. This embankment, for a length of five chains, is 23ft high, and is to be carried over a shifting shingle-bed which, to-day,- is' covered 12ft deep with a raging sea of water. Beyond this, for a further distance of seven or eight chains, one side of the embankment will have to be made outside of the river bank, and through a still greater depth of water which is plunging along at a speed of eight miles an hour. No sane man would attempt to make an embankment in such a place, and it can only have been designed in ignorance of the state of the river in a fresh. It is therefore evident that if the line is to be made as at present intended, some other mode of construction must be adopted. I would by no means infer that the difficulties t:> be overcome are beyond the reach of engineering skill, but I do say that the cost of any work which will withstand the scour of the river in the position indicated will be enormous, and I wish to point out how it can be avoided. The reason of the railway being carried immediately along and outside of the river bank is that the proper position for it is occupied by the road, which now takes up the available space between the cliffs and the river. Now, at a short distance from the town the road rises, at a sharp gradient, a considerable height up the hill side; and what I would propose is, that the gradient should commence nearer the town, so as to carry the road above the cliffs, and then make the present roadway available for the railway. This can be done by making a new road, to commence at the end of Mackay street, to proceed past Mr William Smith's, Mrs Mackintosh's, Mr Hindtnarsh's, and Mr Rowley's houses, and join the present road at the top of the hill. The advantage of this plan may be summarised ■ thus :— ; 1. The cost of the railway will be immensely reduced. 2. It will be a safe instead of a highly dangerous line. 3. It will do away with the inconvenience and charges of the railway running close alongside of a narrow road. 4. The heavy cost of widening the road, as at present provided for, by cutting cutting back into the cliff, will be done with. 5. The new road can be made with easy gradients and with a fine approach to the town. 6. The land along the new road will be made available for pleasant and healthy building sites. A short length of the proposed road will pass through private property, but this, in view of the increased value which will be given to it, can no doabt be secured for a moderate amount; at any rate, for an amount that will be insignificant when compared with what will be saved as shown above, and the advantages to be secured. I propose in a future letter to point Out a further improvement which may be made in the railway line when it passed through the town. In the meantime, I think the suggestion 1 now make is worthy the consideration of the Borough Council and the residents generally, and if they think proper to take any action on it, I have no doubt the Government will be willing to meet their views, and make the necessary alterations before the railway works and the widening of the road are carried out. I am, &c, Index.