LANDMARK PASSES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 56, 22 March 1937, Page 9

LANDMARK PASSES

- P ress Association. )

Geiignite Used on Manawatu Bridge

By Telexrapb-

PALMERSTON N. This Day. i ^ 1 The days of the old wooden bridge) spanning the Manawatu river at Fitziherbert are numbered and very soon i there will be nothing ieft except the jcylinder piles laying like slain soldiers i in the bed of the river. On Friday and Saturday the conitractor who has in hand the removal of ithe structure concentrated attention on jthe demolition of the cast iron cylin-, .drical piles filled with concrete that supported the bridge at the eity end. It iwas generally thought that some diffiiculty would be experienced in removing ithem but they succumbed to the ouslaughts of geiignite and gelatine. The job was not an easy one and was only possible last week because previously •.rains had brought down a succession of freshes in the river and for this particular work a low level of water was essential. However, conditions were right on Friday and a start was made. The first, cyiinder tackled went over fairly easy! because the concrete inside was hard but in three cfthers it was very rubbly and did not resist the explosives sufliciently to make their demolition a quick job. The men undertaking the task first had to crack the cast iron outer casing and this was doS*e by tying geiignite to the side of the cyiinder in what is known as a ''plaster. " Once the casing was broken, charges were put in the concrete interior and fired until the whole structure fell. There are six of theso cylinders, the remaining two being on dry land at the Fitzherbert end of the bridge.