THE "DOOR SPIDER" AGAIN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 15, 11 February 1909, Page 4

THE "DOOR SPIDER" AGAIN

si'tsrEX'SHLN dkidges, j The remarks of tile Hon. A. W. Uugg at the opening of a "Dawson" suspension bridge over tho .\lakakahi river near llainua on Friday last, wherein the new Minister for liouas and Bridges observed that the Engineer of tbe l'ublitWorks Department were, like the dour spider, content to work in one groove, I are not to be allowed to go forth unchallenged. j In the course of an interview with Jlr J. E. )■ ill ton, C.K., of Wellington, a representative of The Dominion was given I tlie other point of view.

" The Hon. A. W. Hogg has disparaged the engineers of his Department in a jiianner that is ipiite uncalled for," observed Mr Fulton, wdo, by tile way, is a bridge-engiuecr with a colonial reputation. "If the statements made by the Minister were true, then nothing short of a commission of inquiry as to the methods and policy of tin* ex-Minister for l'ublic Works and the previous Governmcnt in stocking the service with a ■ stall' of incompetent engineers would 1 meet the present situation. Mr Dawson, when he states that he can build, at a fraction of the cost, uridges as strong | and lasting as those built bv the tiovcrni ment engineers, is entirely wrong. " When the Government contributes towards the cost of a bridge, it very rightly stipulates that the design proposed shall be submitted to the leading Government engineer for approval. I Should the design bu considered inmlec|iiate or unsafe in its principles, endorsement is very properly ret used, otherwise tho responsibilty for accident would lie at the door of tile Department. If light and cheap bridges are required, who but the best qualified engineers, who thoroughly understand the nature of bridge strains and stresses, can be expected to build them well and economically ? "All- Dawson states that a bridge of his own design, 3(>OU. span, was built over the Jlutt liiver at Belmont for .CISOO, which lie guaranteed was every bit as strong and lasting as those erected for the Government. That is over C 4 per foot. Very well. TJie Otaki traffic bridge was. designe,, and built by myself at a cost of .Co per foot. iiv point

is that L could build, for practically the .same cost, a much better bridge ol superior design. The llutt suspension bridge is not endorsed by the Government. None of the 'Dawson' bridges are, in fact. Suspension bridges are only economical -propositions, worthy of consideration when designed to bridge a dee]) gully of great span. Small suspension bridges are distinctly not economical. It seems to me," concluded Mr

Fulton, "that the Hon. A. W. llogg: has been in too great a hurry to turn round and bite his own Department. The lives of the Government engineers are made perfectly miserable as it is by the sheaves of preposterous plans which are -ent in to them from all over the country for approval."