SHANNON-FOXTON BRIDGE

Shannon News, 19 December 1924, Page 3

SHANNON-FOXTON BRIDGE

>AT LA V.

•» jAjn'epres'eaiative■ :meetinjg -of settlers o l ;-district:, was ( ’held 11 m tm*ip-VioutoaiHaito'-lust.-; eveamgy -wiiii Hie, . object -.of! considering!' the; getting 01 sunaiMe means;/oitorammtmication between Sliannonj midj;Moutqa,'>whieh lias ’been dislocated, owing ■ to-the . .loss ol the bridge. Mr J.. Linklater, M.P., for the district was. present; also Cis. Hyde, Murray and Beard representing the. Shannon Borough. Mr Linklater was elected to the chair. Mr Linklater, in opening the ineet : ing, said he was pleased to toe present to meet the, Moutoa settlers and ' Shannon rfepfesfejitativeis, tout was soriy that the meeting was owing to ■the. loss of the toridge which had • been the means of interrupting communication between the two places. He said he had not moved in the restoration -of the bridge knowing that it was in the hands Of the Hiorowhe-’ \nua County Council and the Hignways Boarp, hut he quite agreed that the/work •'of. restoring proper communication should toe. pushed on with all speed by- those people responsible and :he would like an expression of opinion from those present, as to a suitable site for a bridge or any suggestions that would help them in their difficulty. Mr Walter Carter 1 said they had come together hurriedly and it was \ unfortunate that the night was so wet, as the Mayor of Foxton (Mr Chrystall) and others were unaltole to: attend. The facts concerning their positipn were, indisputable. . A punt was toeing built, tout that wquld not meet their needs, and would toe unsatisfactory. He thought piles could have been put in .and a temporary addition made to the portion of the bridge now standing, which would: have helped them considerably during the summer months. He said he' understood the. Highways Bpard intended shifting the bridge and connecting roads to the site at the mouth • of the Tokoinaru as recommended by : the conference of Engineers., Ihe . settlers’ object was to hurry on the shifting of the bridge; if a new one was decided on as at present it \vas. disastrous to the district. Unfortunately, he said, the Horowhenua County Council have been the con trolling • body, and as they only had, about H miles of road, their interest in the; district was small. In the interests of the district they should never have been the. controlling body. He contended the cost of working the punt and inconvenience was no.it satisfactory and during the Winter tody would toe in the' same position as at present. Mr. Linklater said the. punt wquid not remove, the present difficulty and when in action would toe inconvenient and costly. Mr Murray said the position to-day was impossible and a punt was en- , tirely inadequate for connecting up the two places. Judging by the opin- ! ion of expert men, the. portion of the ,• toridge now standing was -quite as .j strong as. when dkrilt, and if two new , spans were added, the bridge would ( last for some years. If the bridge • was; shifted there was still iioj evidence that it would toe safe.. Settlers ( did not agree to the ,punt and removal of the bridge, and it was ; the gen- , oral opinion among them that two spans, would make it secure.. Mr Pig- 1 ott, he said, was one of. the pioneers, and he would like to hear his opinion. • > ■ : ■ Mr Pigott said when the bridge was 1 constructed, piles were, pulled out instead of effi off in the middle, with, the result that the current had been turned to the. Shannon side. Had ( half a dozen piles -been driven in • the span would never have gone and he contended it was. tlumigh neglect by th'bse who had control. He was of :

opinion that if the corner was cut on hy his paddock, where the willows are, that the river : would coirie back to its old course and last foil' years. In regard to the punt he thought it would he a “white elephant” as h would he 4ft high with a 6ft flap and -the steep bank would prevent cars getting off. • . Mr Barber explained the Manawatu County Council’s, position in regard to the matter; He said that body had not yet had it verified from Wellington that the. bridge was. to-be -shift-, ed. Speaking as a layman who had lived 35 years on the hanks of the ■Manawatu he had come to the conclusion that, with some money spent, •on protective works, the present site, was as safe as any. One. fact against the proposed site was. that the Tokomaru empties out there and will cause a buffer and the way it is. being hanked will cause, the water to come out with great force. ' Mr Verity said engineers.. theoreti- ' cally were all right,, hut they should be guided by settlers who were acquainted with facts and whose judgment should be more sound. Hie was present at the bridge, during the flood and had seen debris banked up for about one tq one and a-half chain. This should have been removed, even -if they had to us.e gelignite. Had the Council been as alert as. a private individual the bridge .could have been saved. It was-not the current that carried it away. He asked why was a groin not put in when it could be seen there was an erosion. Mr Jewell said the meeting rather . required to form some scheme as to a site for the bridge and not discuss the, efficacy of the. punt. He agreed that the knowledge of persons, living near the river should be more sound -'than the theoretical. Could the meet-

ing suggest some superior site? Mr Hyde, in rising to speak, apologised for the absence of the Mayor of , Shannon. He said he thought the oh- . , ject of the meeting was to restore , -■■-communication which would be scr-.j ’ viceable'. He said a puni was not. He j pointed out tlmt the necessary span i of 00ft erected in a temporary man- 1 ner to take light traffic could be done for less cost than the cost of the punt and be more satisfactory. Tn refer-ring-'to-.the loss of trade.to Shannon at present, he stated the Railway Department were losinfe £SO per week in freight, in fibre alone, which was now, being shipped from Foxton, Whiio the millers had to bear the ex-

tra cost of cartage, while, the Shannon Dairy Go.-and the Moutoa suppliers were both losing money owing to extra cartage and: inconvenience. Half a dozen wire cables, decking and a hand rail attached to the present structure would get over tile difficulty and . light traffic over the bridge could be restored.

Mr Beard said his. object in attending the meeting was to get those who have control to put in another span. He also drew attention to the loss and inconvenience to the, settlers.

Mr Jewell then moved and Mr Carter seconded, “That representation be made to the Horowhenua and Manawatu .County Councils and the Mam Highway Board that immediate steps be taken to have a temporary span across the Manawatu river so as to give direct access to Foxton and Shannon and further that Mr Linklater, M,p;, be asked to introduce a deputation.' from this meeting with tbe Object of placing the. whole details before the proper authorities.” This was. carried unanimously. The following gentlemen were appointed: Messrs W. E. Barber, W. S. Carter, A. E. Hyde, W. Jewell and Pigott. The meeting was then concluded by a hearty vote of thanks to the chairman (Mr Linklater), who had come from Palmerston North to attend the meeting.