He Markham

Spanned!

Bridge Open for Traffic in January

From Our Own Correspondent IHE last span of the Markham Point Bridge was put into posi tion late in December and by id-January the bridge should be en to light traffic. [t will be a week or so later he re the big, heavy diesel trucks lich take stores to Wau and ilolo, and bring out plywood and iber, will be reaching Lae via the :dge instead of by the ferry at bu at the mouth of the Mark in. digging makes is impossible for avy vehicles to use the bridge once—a flying-fox and other lipment block the way at present. rhe Markham Point Bridge is 30 feet long—a single width iley type bridge of sixteen 100-ft ms and one 60-ft span. t is nine miles from the mouth the river and has taken 18 nths to complete—although the ;t span was only laid in place t February.

Vorkmen now have to work on athing the clusters of piles to vent logs and debris from catch , and considerable work has yet be finished on the approach ds.

'his project was carried out by mibrook Constructions Ltd. at a : of £175,500 —an amount that not include construction of the •roach road through a couple of 3S of swamp. Work in the early ?es was continually held up be se the river changed course or ded—two phenomena for which Markham is notorious. Some residents are still unconvinced t the bridge has been put in the

it place—although the Adminis

ion engineers insist that it has. he bridge will, however, be of itimable value to the Morobe net, eliminating as it does the itratmg delays caused by the r ,e at the mouth of the Mark-