Rewa Bridge

Big Job Completed in Fiji

From Our Own Correspondent SUVA, June 25.

P|N Saturday, June 12, the long awaited steel and concrete bridge over the 2ewa River was opened by the Governor, 3ir Arthur Richards. Lady Richards cut ;he ribbon across the approach.

Replacing the antiquated steam pon ;oon ferry which has done service for so nany years on the river, and which was iable to be held up every time there was i big fresh in the river, the bridge will ndeed be a boon to residents on the other side of the river. It forms an important ink in the road around the island of Viti .<evu, the last section of which, between Navua and Sigatoka, is under con struction.

Speakers at the opening were the Glovernor, Director of Public Works (Hon. W. Wise), and Hon. Alport Barker, to whose efforts for many years in the Legislative Council the bridge is largely [file.

The bridge is a fine structure, and a tribute to the skill of the resident engineer, who was in charge of the con struction, Mr, J. H. Williams. It is com prised of two 60ft. approach spans on the Davuilevu side, one 60ft. approach span on the Nausori side, and nine 120 ft. spans in between. The length between abutments is I,2Boft.—2oft. longer than the arch span of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is designed for two lines of vehicular traffic, the width of the road way between kerbs being 18ft., while

there are two footways for pedestrians, one on each side of the bridge.

Due to the nature of the river bed, considerable difficulty was experienced in sinking some of the piles. In the case of one pier toward the Nausori side, the foundations go down 162 ft. a record for the Southern Hemisphere.

The sinking of the cylinders, which con trolled the time of the job, was com menced on February 22, 1935, and com pleted on March 22, 1937. The structural work was completed on May 6 last, and then time was allowed for the concrete roadway to set properly.

Owing to rising prices, steel for the bridge cost £7,000 more than the esti mate, but here Mr. Williams’ experience and skill came to the rescue. Under the original proposal, the steel spans were to be erected on timber staging near the river bank, and floated out into position on pontoons. Mr. Williams, however, de vised a scheme of building them out on cantilevers on the same lines as the Sydney Bridge was built. This method reduced the cost of the construction by several thousands of pounds.

New Tanker For C.S.R. Company THE Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd. has ordered from the Caledon ship yards at Dundee a new vessel, a semi tanker, to carry 5000 tons deadweight of bulk molasses and general cargo. This vessel will be the third of the company’s tanker fleet. The other two vessels are the Fiona and Rona , of 2198 and 6205 tons, and they run between Fijian, North Queensland, and Australian and N.Z. ports.

Scenes at the opening of the Rewa Bridge, Fiji. Top: View of the structure and approach from Mission Hill, Davuilevu. Below: The crowd of Fijians and Indians who walked across the bridge to the Nauson side after the opening ceremony.

Photos: Caine & Co., Suva.