THE SHANNON BRIDGE.

Shannon News, 16 January 1925, Page 3

THE SHANNON BRIDGE.

PROPOSED TEMPORARY REPAIRS. COMMUNICATION BY PUNT Correspondence dealing with the question of restoring communication between Foxton and Shannon in consequence of the damage suffered by the Shannon bridge was dealt with at yesterday’s meeting, of the Manawatu County Council. In Decemoer, the Main Highways Board considered that a punt would be the quickest and cheapest means of re-establishing connection between the two towns, and this work was proceeded with. There is now under consideration the question of erecting a temporary structure to cost approximately £I2OO, to replace the spans of the bridge washed away and the Manawatu, Foxton and Shannon Councils have been approached as to what proportion of the cost of the structure, each body would be willing to find. The fea- ,■ ture of the negotiations to-date is the absence of any reference to the. Horowhenua County Council’s sharing in the cost of any work undertaken. The control of the bridge was originally. vested in the Horowhenua '• County, and notwithstanding that the bridge has been declared a highway, the Horowhenua County Stills holds the warrant. A letter from the Horowhenua county stated that on November 20,. the Main Highways Board had decided to abandon the idea of again using the existing bridge at its present site, and had’instructed that a punt be in- - stalled below the. existing traffic site to reinstate communication between Shannon and Foxton. The preparatory work for the installation of the .punt service was undertaken at once. On December 24, the chairman of the Main Highways Board wrote that the matter of installing the punt service had proceeded too far to be stopped. An additional reason for adopting this scheme was on account of the great risk which would attend the construction of a temporary bridge, due to the unstable nature of the river bank and floating timber. He was investigating .the statement that the danger of further erosion at the bridge head had passed away, and had , instructed the Dis tri’et %&prhways Board to approach .the WSiawatu County and the Foxton arid Shannon Borough Councils, with a view to ascertaining what proportion of the cost of a temporary structure to restore the old bridge each local auth- , ority would be willing to find. The Chairman of the District. Highways Council wrote, asking what share of the cost of the temporary structure the County was willing to find, and'also whether it was willing to shoulder the risk of the temporary structure being washed away before the erection of a new bridge could be completed, which would probably be in about two years’ time. -

In expressing an opinion that an effort was being made to leave the Horowhenua County Council out, Cr. Barber read a resolution by the Foxtoh Borough Council, on Monday night, to the effect that the Public Works Department be requested to re-erect the missing spans of the Shannon bridge with the necessary protective works, and recommending that the local bodies interested hold a conference at an early date to consider the proposal. The speaker considered that the Council should support the idea of a conference of all local bodies interested, and did not agree that the Council should undertake to find any of the money for the proposed work • unless the Horowhenua County also contributed. Hu understood that a number of that county’s ratepayers were petitioning for the . opening of the bridge. He had spoken to Mr J. Linklater, 31. P., on the matter of how much the Highways Board would contribute, and' had been given to understand that the Board had practically agreed to conti-ibute one-third of the cost of the new spans of the bridge. Horowhenua County should not be allowed to espape participating in the cost of the work. After discussing the matter at some length, it was decided to send the following letter to the chairman of No.'S District Council of the Main Highways Board:—

. In reply, my Council ha« considered the contents of your letter-, and presumes, as you have not mentioned any cost being borne by the Highways Board or Horowhenua County Council, you propose that neither of these bodies' bo charged with any of the cost if that work wei e undertaken. We are of opinion that there is no reason why the cost of a temporary bridge should not be-borne in the same ratio as the suggested expenditure on the punt and approaches, viz.: Highways Board 6-12ths, Horowhenua ' County Council 2-12ths, Manawatu County Council 2-12ths. Foxton Borough l-12th, Shannon borough 1-12th. We are advised that many ratepayers in the Horowhenua County are favourable to t.he temporary bridge, and that therefore there is no reason to omit them from a share of the expenditure, and in our- opinion the Highways Board is justly entitled to pav its share. We are also advised that the member tor the district has approached the chairman of the Highways Board, and that he is favourable to that view. Moreover, this Council is not by any means sure that the present bridge could not be strengthened and lengthened, so that it would serve for many years, especially if some protective works were undertaken. The change in the set of the river we think warrants this view. The Council also thinks that the importance of this subject is such to, all local bodies concerned that they endorse the resolution ot the Foxton Borough Council, passed at a meeting held on Monday. “We would add that the Highways Board chairman, or som zone to represent him, together with the chairman of No. 9 Highways District, should be asked to be present.”

Work at tlic Bridge,

In his monthly report, the Mara- I watu County engineer reported that he had visited the Shannon bridge on Monday, in company with the engineer for the Highways Board (Mr Ronayne). He reported that the punt was completed and Mr Ronayne was making arrangements for the erection of towers and anchor blocks on each side of the river, and also accommodation for the men to work the punt. The contractor for forming the road, stop bank, and excavation work had arrived and would commence work that day. Mr Ronayne stated that Mr Anderson, engineer for the Horowhenua County, would supply the metal for roading on the Manawatu side for about half the cost of the existing estimate. If this could be accomplished, it would reduce the cost by one-third. After Mr Ronayne had made a final inspection of the proposed road and the position of the towers to be erected, he requested the Council to push on with the work as fast as possible. A contract had been let to construct a stop bank and excavate 820 yards of spoil from the cutting approach to the punt for the sum of 2/9 per cubic yard. The fencing material was on the ground, and the winch, wire rope, and other material to work the punt would be on the spot on Thursday, January 15. While' inspecting the bridge,. Mr Ronayne's attention was drawn to the apparatus for conveying passengers l across the gulf from the end of the bridge to the east shore. Already there had been one accident and a baptism, and the arrangements for crossing the guif were very dangerous.”—Adopted.