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FREMANTLE RAILWAY BRIDGE
We received a letter a few days ago
calling attention to a report which had
appeared in the press in connection
with the Fremantle harbor works, and
in which it was stated that dredging had
been carried out to within 1,000ft. of
the railway bridge. The letter pro-
ceeded as follows: — "As the result of
this dredging both branches of the work-
ing railway are watching the railway
bridge with the greatest anxiety. The
general traffic manager wrote to the
under-secretary for Works about the
matter a week or two ago, and the en-
gineer for existing lines has had sound-
ings taken from time to time with a
view of finding out what scour was
taking place around the piles of the
bridge. "At present the piles of the old
portion of the bridge are only 6ft. in the
ground, and those of the new portion
about 8ft., fully 6ft. of the river bottom
having been scoured away within the
last few months as the result of the
dredging mentioned."
A representative of "The Morning
Herald" interviewed the general mana-
ger with reference to this communica-
tion, and that gentleman denied that
any anxiety was being expressed with
regard to the bridge. The only com-
munication with reference to the mat-
ter was one on the subject of protecting
the bridge by means of waling pieces,
to prevent them from being struck by
shipping. There were posts alongside
the bridge carrying telephone lines, and
some of these had been damaged by
shipping. He was not aware that any
scour had taken place.
Our representative next saw Mr.
Dartnall, the engineer for existing lines,
and that gentleman at once denied that
any scour had taken place. The dredg-
ing, he said, was as yet a long way from
the bridge, and, in addition, there was
very little flow of water, the difference
in the height of the river at Perth and
Fremantle being only 1ft., or at the
most 2ft. The dredging could be car-
ried out with perfect safety, if needed,
to within a few chains of the bridge and
the greatest possible precautions would
be taken to see that the structure did
not suffer. The piles of the bridge were
driven in hard rock, and in connection
with the new portion of the bridge they
had been severely tested. A one-ton
monkey was employed to drive them in
with a fall of 10ft., striking 24 blows
to the foot. The older portion of the
bridge was also in a perfectly sound con-
dition. It was not a fact that
any scour had taken place. The
river river up to Perth was
practically an arm of the sea, and
there was little tide or fall to occasion
scouring. It was absurd to suppose
that this could have taken place, as the
dredging had net approached anywhere
near the bridge. There was not the
slightest cause for alarm. Mr. Dart-
nall said in conclusion that not only was
the bridge in question being carefully
watched, but a strict supervision was
kept, not merely over every bridge.
but over the whole extent of railway
lines in the colony. The writer of the
letter was apparently one of those out-
siders who imagined that they knew
more of what was going on than did
those whose whole business it was to_
deal with the affairs in question.
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