ROAD OVER ANDES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 July 1940, Page 9

ROAD OVER ANDES

A FEAT OF ENGINEERING. STUPENDOUS UNDERTAKING. By a stroke of engineering genius traffic communications between Argentina and Chile have been suddenly increased by means that would have seemed impossible to travellers of 5(? years ago. Between the two Republics stretches a vast link of the Andes Moun tains, which is here a boundary 150 miles long that must bo passed before either nation can reach the other Extending almost in an unbroken line through South America a distanc' of 4009 miles, the Andes are a work of marvels, comprising awe-inspiring volcanoes, beneath whose troubled foundations terrible earthquakes orii ginate. They are the source of rivers i Their mightiy valleys shelter great cities. They teem with riches in gold silver, copper, tin. lead, quicksilver zinc and coal. But, fiery within, an:.' in places .eternally wrapped in snow, they are a barrier shutting oft the eas. of the continent from the west. I To remove this isolation engineer; pierced the mountains beneath the Upsallata Pass 30 years ago. and since then railway trains have run through a mountain tunnel 7520 yards long and rising at its highest point to 10.520 feet. The tunnel through the Andes, however. restricted travel to the railway for, although there is a perilous track over the mountains above its course, deep snow blocks the pass for nine months of the year. What the engineers have done now is to maker a motor-way through the tunnel. A modification of the roads approaching the tunnel and running through it now makes it possible for travellers from Chile to Argentina or from Argentina to Chile to make their way through the heart of the Andes without leaving their cars. Thus one more barrier is converted Into a highway. Lofty mountains are as effective hindrances as seas to communications until engineers come to pierce them. They separate nation from nation, and lead to the evolution of birds and animals peculiar to restricted heights and ranges, a notable example being the existence of those camel-like animals the llamas and vicunas. These remarkable creatures are found wild nowhere but among the coarse grass limited to certain areas ef these mountains, through which motorcars have now begun to run.