Seeking Route

Through Mountains Four Parties Surveying for Salamaua-Wau Road

BEFORE the construction of the new road, Salamaua to Wau (New Guinea), can be commenced, a difficult problem of route has to be settled. There are four routes under consideration, and four sur ) vey parties are at work.

' Information received between mid-Aug ust and mid-September seemed to favour the Buangs-Snake River route* * In a direct line, Wau is only miles from Salamaua. but three ranges of high, precipitous mountains li|e within those 40 miles. The Buangs route represents a wide curve around to the north supposedly through easier country with a milder grade; and the total distance from Sala maua via the Buangs to Bulwa, and thence up the Bulolo Valley to Wau, would be 75 miles. About *25 miles of this road—namely. *Wau to Bulwa —is already constructed. . By last mail, however, we received from Wau information that a surveyor, Mr. M.

W. Bergin, working in the Bitoi-Francisco /district (that is, on the direct route be tween Salamaua and Wau), has located a r ne w and hitherto unsuspected route through the mountains.

It is called the Middle Bitoi route; the ./distance from Wau to Salamaua would be 'so miles, of which 44 miles would have to be constructed. There would be 12 miles of river flats, representing easy formation, i about 14 miles of easily-coristructed grades, I varying from 1 in 10 to 1 in 18, 10 miles of steep side-slopes, with grades of 1 in 15 and 1 in 25, and 8 miles of definitely diffi cult country. This road would come out at Uhe mouth of Sandy Creek, not far from Wau. It would not rise higher than 5,000 feet.

There is also the Markham route, which is Salamaua—Markham Valley—vicinity of I Wampit Valley—Bulwa. This, would be

about 90 miles.-f- fi, J/Vl 4*

If the Middle Bitoi route is all that is claimed for it, the New Guinea authorities will hav6 a difficult choice to make, as be tween the Bitoi, the Buangs and the Mark- t ham routes. The points for decision may thus be set out: Vehicles using the Bitoi route would go direct to Wau, 50 miles (say 21 hours), thence to Bulolo, Bulwa and Sunshine (3'i hours). Using the Buangs route, they would get to Bulwa and Sunshine in 2i hours and Wau in 31 hours. There ‘would be much more freight for Wau and Edie Creek than for Bulolo-Bulwa-Sunshine, and the Bitoi would give it a shorter track.

So far as the Bitoi and Buangs routes are concerned, both would open up good timber country, but neither would give ac cess to agricultural country.» Prom the point of view of the initiation of a developmental roading scheme, the Buangs has the advantage over Bitoi. It is only 50 miles, via the Buangs, from Sala maua to Bulwa, from which presumably the main road would start on its course through the Watut Valley to the Upper Markham and the Ramu. Whereas, via the Bitoi route, the distance from Salamaua to Bulwa would be 75 miles.

If the Bitoi route would provide a good arterial road, that 25 miles of extra dis tance (which would give quicker access to Wau) would not matter; but our informa tion is that “neither the Bitoi nor the

Buangs route is suitable as the first stage of an arterial road which will open up the central tablelands”.

The main questions in connection with the Middle Bitoi are: Can the road be built for £150,000? Will its character be such as to demand for maintenance such sums as will cripple the plan of financing the road?

The Bitoi and Francisco country—broken, very high, very “shifty” and subject to terrific rainfalls—was condemned long ago as unsuitable for road-building.

The argument of the Mining Association —now very strongly advanced—is that the Wau-Salamaua road must not be com plicated with any consideration other than that of providing the Morobe goldfield with a road. They point out that many years ago the gold royalty was raised to 5% on the ground that the extra taxation would provide a road, and they do not see why the Morobe people should be further penalised because the New Guinea admini stration haSi greedily lapped up all the extra revenue derived from that 5% gold royalty, and has left no fund available for the building of a road. They say that as goldfields interests are prepared to lend the necessary money under guarantee, and as Morobe people will voluntarily tax themselves further by means of a road toll.

it is iniquitous that there should be any delay in the construction of their road while argument proceeds as to whether it should form part of a road development scheme for the mainland as a whole.

Mr. Michael J. O’Brien, of Guinea Air ways’ engineering staff, recently married Miss Ann Solomon, of Adelaide, at Port Moresby, Papua.