FLOODING OF RAILWAY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5335, 5 October 1928, Page 2

FLOODING OF RAILWAY.

PAERO A-TE AROHA’ SECTION. REMOVAL iDF LINE REFUSED. In answer to the; request made by Mr A- M. Samuel, on’ behalf of the Ohinemur.i County Council, to the Minister qf Railways to have that portion erf the railway line between Tirohia and! Ma,ngaiti moved to higher cqun.try on acebunt of flooding, the following letter was read from the Minister, of Railways at the; vquncil meeting; yesterday : — “With reference .to your representationic, ojn behalf of the iQhinemuri County council regarding the proposal to move the; railway line between Tiro'hia. and Mangaiti to higher country to aye-id flooding, my inquiries go tq show that the portion of the Hue that was, flooded recently was from 36 miles -40 chains to 38 .milep'i 50 chains at. the height, of the flqod, the greater portion of the line between these mileages bei-nig submerged 'to a depth of 3ft. There was an exceptionally heavy rainfall prior to the flood, and the height of. the water of the Waihou River was, greater than at any previous flood since the construction of the ; railway. A' floOfch of these dimeusjo-ns fets, therefore, occurred Ai 40 year.;'. The railway line fit th'is Tosality is straight and is located bn a swamp, the fcr-ma- . tiqn level being on an; average Bft above ground level in the gwamp. “Two alternatives ojffer themselves as solutions to this problem. The first is t° deviate the line and follow the edge qf the swamp at a height of a few fejs|t above flood level. The second is tq raise the existing embankment 4ft,' so that the rail level will be above the ffiaximum flood level. If the line is deviated so a.si to be 'c.lear of the swamp, heavy earthwork and the provision of three bridges will be involved, with the disadvantage of a poor alignment, of the railway. This Work is. estimated tq cost approximately £40,000'. Ilf the line were raised 4ft on the -existi.n|g alignment it would still be. straight, and the only work involved l would be the filling and the raising qf thr.ee bridges. Thia work wo,uld eos,t. approximately £l-5,000-. “During the, recent flood it was found, by reason qf the water having no mc.vemeiit, that .the track suffered very little damage, and in view of this, and of tlhe comparatively short delay occasioned, to traffic as a result of the flood it is con&jderedi that the expeinse of either raising or deviating the line would not be justified at the present time.” Cr Mace remarked tihajt. the matter was only brought before the council in order tq draw the Mi-niste|r’s attention to. the railway.