THE SHANNON BRIDGE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 2415, 8 April 1922, Page 2

THE SHANNON BRIDGE.

DISCUSSED BY THE SHANNON BOROUGH COUNCIL. At Tuesda3 T ’s meeting of tor" Shannon Borough Council, Mr It. Edwards, the Borough Engineer, was present, and gave a report, as requested, on the condition of the bridge over the Manawatu River. He stated that the Manawatu County' Council had evidently not bothered much about the bridge, and it was at present in a very bad state. It had not been painted for years, and erosion of the banks near the river was great. The next few floods might cause very serious damage indeed. Every day the position was becoming worse, and in view of the great importance of this bridge to Shannon, a move should be made quickly. While the bridge was of great importance to all the local bodies concerned, the effect of a dislocation of traffic would be felt by Shannon considerably, its trade and commerce largely depending on ii. The County Council were failing in their duty if they neglected the matter. To move the road and build stop-banks was useless so far as t lie erosion was concerned, and was only a temporary measure at the best. He would suggest that he draw a plan of the locality and place it before the Council with as further report, so that they might become fully conversant with the position. The Mayor (Mr Murdoch) said that a letter had been sent to "the Manawatu County Council some ihree weeks ago, but so far they had had no reply. Probably they had not met since receiving the letter, and it would appear that either they had no one in authority to attend to urgent business between meetings, or were dilatory. He suggested waiting a little longer for a reply, and if none came to hand, to arrange with Mr Edwards to draw a plan and submit the whole matter to I lie Minister of Public Works. This course was agreed to, and also that the local bodies be written to again and asked for an immediate reply.