OTIRA TUNNEL

Hokitika Guardian, 29 November 1920, Page 4

OTIRA TUNNEL

AN INSPECTION MADE, CHRISTCHURCH, November 25

Mr P. It. Ciimie, organiser for the Canterbury Progress League visited the Arthur’s Pass tunnel on Tuesday for the purpose of carrying out a thorough investigation respecting cement supplies. He returned to Christchurch and gave ■some startling, information. Mr Ciimie went to the tunnnel fully authorised by the Minister of Public Works to carry out what investigations he desired. In the course of his inquiries Mr Ciimie travelled through the tunnel both ways to and from Otira, where he found the engineers in charge willing to giro him all the assistance possible. After a full investigation of the position, Mr .Ciimie said that he found it really worse than lie anticipated when he left Christchurch as tho failure to keep up normal supplies of cement was 1 retarding the progress of the work of lining the tunnel to a very marked and j serious approximately 50 tons of cement were required each week to keep the three shifts at each end of the tunnel fully employed on tho work which normally followed closely behind tho top headings and which could not he delayed owing to the danger of the roof and walls falling in.

During the past seven months, however, cement supplies had only averaged 20 tons a week or 60 per cent, below requirements. This had resulted in the men at times having to be placed on other work, such as cleaning which ordinarily would have been left over till tho completion of the lining, when it could havo been done much" more expeditiously and at considerably less cost to the Department. Owing to this short ago the engineers had been faced with the alternative of having to pay some of the men on such other work as could be found for the men the hope of the cement position improving. They had so far chosen the last mentioned course, so

as not to lose the men’s services. Mr Ciimie estimates that on a conservative basis and additional halt chain of lining a week for the past seven months would have been completed had normal quantities of cement been maintained ,but (is it is thero is a dead loss of fourteen chains directly attributable to tho cement shortage. There is another thirty-three chains of lining to be done in order to complete the tunnel, which under normal conditions would take eight months. If the shortage coir tinues on tho basis of the last seven months it is calculated to require fully twenty months in order to do this eight months’ work, a delay of twelve months which can be avoided if sufficient supplies of cement are regularly maintained!

It is runner estimated that the total wages account, including staff tunnel workers, and outside amounts approximately to £I3OO per week, so that it is an easy' calculation, Mr Climie says to determine what the cement shortage is costing the country in respect of t|iis work, to say nothing of the interest charges which are accumulating and which are considerably over £IOOO a week. Mr Climie stated these figures which he had prepared met with the endorsement of both Mr Cowing and Mr Jeff, the two engineers in charge of the tunnel works. Both had done all they could to obtain cement supplies, but so far they had not been successful in obtaining quantities in excess of those stated above.

Mr Clinije was of opinion in view of the serious financial loss to the country to say nothing of the retardation of the’ completion of the work, that the question of importing cement from Aus. tralia where he understood supplies were available should be seriously considered by the Government. They present hand-to-mouth policy must inevitably result in the' position going from bad to worse. Should abundant supples of cement come to hand without delay the engineers were of opinion tho present losses might be to some extent overtaken.

The question of cement supplies, not only for this work ,but.for Canterbury requirements generally is to be gone into by the Progress League and an earnest endeavour made to find a remedy for the present state of things.

THE CEMENT POSITIONCHRISTCHURCH, Nov. 28. Regarding the shortage of cement supplies for the Otira tunnel works, Mr W. if. McDonald’ (chairman of the Board of' Trade), said that in order to keep the tunnel' works supplied, special shipments of cement had been arranged at different times. Dealing with the cement position generally, Mr McDonald said it was impossible at the present time to supply even the most urgent and essential works with full quantities of cement, because it was not being produced on account of a lack of coal.' The coal position was so bad that one company had not produced a single ton of cement during the past fourteen or fifteen months. There was a shortage of cement to-day in the Dominion of fifty thousand tons. If coal were available, tlie acute phase of this shortage would be oyer in six months, although the leeway would not be made up for a very, considerable fame, personally, fie thought the consumption of cement was going to increase in the Dominion to considerably in excess of the pre-war consumption, as peopje were beginning to discover the manifold uses to which cement could fie put. The lion. Lee president of the Board of Trade were endeavouring to arrange with t)ie Coal Control for relief to lie afforded cement companies.