BULLER GORGE RAILWAY

Hokitika Guardian, 30 October 1930, Page 2

BULLER GORGE RAILWAY

WESTPORT-INANGAHUA

PROGRESS ON CONSTRUCTION. WESTPORT, Oct. 24. In.'beauty unexcelled by any part of New Zealand—a charm heightened for yea its by an almost complete absence oi human habitation and evidences of man’s industry—and possessing historical associations linking it with the J 6o’s, the Bui jo i" Gorge is now teeming with life, its lovely bluffs and bushclothed hillsides' echo for niilOfi the boom of great' explosions, and almost every vqslige oi prooi that at one time it was peopled only by lone prospectors has been destroyed with the march of progress. Travellers, who once were thrilled by its, ilong succession of vistas of exquisite scenery, now sigh regretfully at the disturbance which man has wrought. But some day the last of the workmen’s huts will have disappeared, the final charge will have (been fired, arid .Nature will be free to complete her : Work of repairing - the ravages which .follow in. the wake of railway construction, Then travellers 'by the traihs, which will then traverse the gorge,, will • be. able to enjoy the unbroken revelation of forest trees, gjarit"' ferns, and rich undergrowth across the 1 Puller.

Five years may elapse before this is possible, but at the present rate of /progress Westport and Inangahua Junction-Will liave’been linked by rail, in that time. Work on the construction of the line was resumed in 1923, and now no. fewer than 425 men are distributed in gangs between the two this total being practically equal to; the number employed at both ends, •of the gap in the South Island Main Trunk line, separating Parnassus and Wharanui. : -/ FOUR MILES OF NEW TRACK. Since work was recommenced, four miles of .lirabilhave been'laid, the line now;! ‘extending- • fpjr ■ :three-q barters of’ tha^l.distance: pasf'Te Kuiia to Cascadej iCrcek, i-lwhere ;it taps the coal Beams ' Of .‘the; Cascade Mining Company, the: product being burned to .the bins‘' from a distance of six miles;. Further up the gbrge, ■ opposite 'Bhvckwatef'jlia seaini of; slate j;maybpay ; for.; developinentl when th&,/line provides a mode "at ’ '(transport. Tjjie gpr{|? has ■ other, mineral resources, ~ but the scenic potentialities : of the railway will,always be paramount, For ft mile further than Cascade Creek the tj-aCk lir/i been laid re.cefitliyvfor.'ta distance, of ft, mile or so Over formation constructed years ago, but' the,, lino. goes a.o further. ' From Westport to ifiangaliua, Junction is. miles, nine miles of the line have been completed, and 18 J arc under construction, Ninety-five per cent of the men.employed \are working- on formation which ± entails blasting.; .and.,•• hewing dozens of cuttings out of-- .the. solid rock, , and ' the accumulation of vast masses of spoil to fill depressions. V • SEVERAL TUNNELS. The 1 crossing of a multitude of small gullies, ,is necessitating the ■. * construction of numerous short bridges, and whore; rocky spurs, project; into the gorge tunnels are driyeh.;.ln .the.'completed section there are four, band two more will ’ Ibe " necebsary : ibbtween . Cascade and the Junction. ■'■■■■■ ■ <[.■■■'

One of thtese, a tunnel 6i's2s feet long, is now under construction, but tlie other, which will be ten ■ chains manor Westport, and only 160 feet long, has; not yet. been ■ coihmenced. Both will be opposite the famous Hawk’s Crag, where the road across the river has been hewn out of the solid y roslj.in a, precipitous 'Hillside. Three men have lost their lives in the longer tunnel through premature explosions.’ Two hundred feet of bottom

heading have been and ten men aro working on the face in two shifts, with pneumatic drills and explosives, but eventually, when the full-sized tunnel is being made, a large number will be able to operate. It will take 18 months to complete, and the smaller tunnel will be commenced and finished within that period.

•EASIER COUNTRY. From Hawk’s Crag onward the line will traverse country ol an entirely different nature. The hills recede from the water's edge, and it will no longer bo necessary to traverse a belt of rock. The absence of high batters will reduce the danger from slips, which w.ll probably always give trouble Avhere the line skirts the sloping »;ides of the hill country, and the removal of “toes” has brought .about more or less permanent instability. Progress has been rapid in the section between the Crag and the Junction, and work is well forward on the formation for considerable distances, but none of it lias been actually completed. In the Orikaha or Mackley valley the cuttings, give way to 'built-up bank work, and elsewhere numerous substantial bridges will carry the rails. One of these is that over Cascade creek, which is well under way. It is Of steel plate girders oil reinforced concrete piers, founded on cylinders, arid, when ’finished, will be 440 feet long and 60 feet above the creak, Where it finds its lowest level iu the valley. : It will be 260 feet 'shorter than the bridge over' the Inangahua river, which is the longest on the line, and somewhat similar in type -to the one over Cascade creek, the only structure *at present being built, j JUNCTION iJBRIDGE. In the case of the former the structure originally planned was a combined railway and traffic bridge, and space was left on the piers for the steel girders to carry; the tracks. 1 These are now on the' site, and laying them over the bridge will be a comparatively small undertaking. These two and the new structure over the Buller river are the only large .ones required, although the Orekaha bridge will Ibe of fair size. Water which pours down the hill•sides in times of rain .will' be dealt 'with iby numerous open surface culverts. t No departure will be made thorn the route decided' upon, the permanent survey having been completed throughout. : '• : All of the works camps are on the south side, of the river, and the men cross the Buller by long suspension foot-bridges, <\ anchored in the rock at either end 1 by huge cables. Two pebpie wefe\ ’drowned in crossing the river 'by boat hi .Riacfewiater,. and one is holy vifttd, the use nf this means of transport, '• From the northern end of the bfidgos\’trftoks branch oil tip and down stream, land loads to the points where is in progress. Although they are of the corduroy type in- places, they traverse country whose beauty will giro thorn a permanent value as* touristtracks. . A gigantic slip.

Between the tunnel under construction at'. Hawk’s Craig, and the site of the second one there is the highest rock batter on the lime. It extends to a point more than 100 feet aboA r e the formation,) Immediately to. the westAA r ar.di theifi is a deep block cutting, but an enbrmous slip reaching to a height of -500 feet, has , completely buried it. This huge mass'of debris, a mixture of nifty, rubble, and -timber came down; three weeks ago, and Avill take 'montlis to clear aAvay. It fills the cutting for a distance of five chains. a dozen men are attacking the! mass at various points .with shovels' and AvlieclbarroAVs, and tipping the spoil into the- Buller. This gigantic triangular yellow scar Avill be a landmark ib the Gorge for years to come. \ Across the fetiller ton trucks and heavily-laden loVries bustle backwards and fonvards, renewing; the stacks of timber which are. constantly being depleted to meet the requirements of tho tunnellers on'.the north bank. It reaches them by means cf slings running on wire ropes' dmvn along by windlasses. Yellow patches on the hillsides indicate where, the bush and undergrowth have bebn cleared aAvay, and the cuttings made, while fanshttped heaps of spoil extending doivn to the river mark the rubbish tips. Right doAvn to Inangahua Junction this evidence of progress hi ay be seen, and a Avide belt of bush has been cut in preparation for work on the formation. The south approach to the Inangahua river has been built up to the required height for a distance of several chains. . Tiroroa, a village of trim white huts, is the biggest works camp v in the gorge. Here are situated the big Public Works stores and tool repair shop, and the social needs of the people are met /by a fine hall erected by the Young Men’s Christian Association Avhich maintains a permanent organisation.