BRIDGE BUILDING FEAT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 2850, 24 February 1925, Page 3

BRIDGE BUILDING FEAT.

war episode recalled. A .bridge-building feat performed during the second battle of Cambrai in 1918, was recalled in an interesting manner at the annual smoke concert of the N.Z. Society of Civil Engineers at Christchurch last week. Colonel R. Young, in responding to the toast of the “Army and Navy,” paid a tribute to the work which had been done by the New Zealand engineers and tunnellers. As a special instance he mentioned the bridge which had been built across the Canal du Nord, by a company working under the command of Captain N. D. Holmes, D.S.O. “That bridge,” he said, “was visited by Field-Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, General Byng, and other eminent army officers. They all were of opinion that it was a magnificent engineering feat, and a special order for the day had been issued in its praise. Captain Holmes, who is now. Mr Holmes, a Wellington engineer, gave the following details of the bridge and its construction: —It was the largest single span bridge built during the Cambrai battles. Its span was 180 feet and it was erected in 104 hours. It was strong enough to bear the largest tanks and was visited by Sir Douglas Haig, General Thornej and General Parker, Chief Engineer to the British Expeditionary Force. “The work,” said Mr Holmes, “was only made possible by the enthusiasm and adaptability of the unit which was not a trained bridging unit.” In times of peace and for civil purposes the same work would take about twelve months, judging by what is happening in connection with the Moufoa-Shannon proposed bridge, which is still in the talking stage. What could he completed in a fortnight during war time will take about three years to complete in times of peace.