Notwithstanding the fact that this will involve some very heavy work, it will not cost more than Mr. Bruce's proposed bank and would be safe from destruction during a typhoon. The altered alignment is now being set out by Mr. Eves. From a rough section which we had prepared from a contour map, it seems probable that in order to get past 3 spurs, a like number of tunnels will be required, viz. two 150 ft. long and one 800 ft. long. The highest bank will be 50 ft. but only for a short length, and the deepest cutting will run to 70 ft.
Coming now to the most important and serious work, viz. the tunnel which is 2,400 yards long, there are several circumstances which make the work of constructing it more than ordinarily troublesome. There is, for instance, no means at present for transport between one end and the other, and the wire ropeway over the crest of the hill, which is to be installed, will not entirely remove the difficulty. Again, from the height of the mountain, it is impossible to put down more than two shafts, and these will be over a mile apart, and subterranean water will also be a serious factor. The only practicable means of transport for material to the north face is by the circuitous sea route referred to above, and even by this means, material cannot be landed nearer than at a spot 5 miles away from the northern face of the tunnel. As regards bricks, there seems little chance of finding good brick earth at a more convenient spot than close to the frontier at the north end of the line, and these will have to be brought round by river and sea, so far as the southern half of the tunnel is concerned.
At the time of Mr. A. J. Barry's visit, not much work had so far been done to the tunnel. A shaft 90 ft. deep had been sunk at the south end of the tunnel, 300 ft. from the face, and a start had been made at driving the heading each way, but the first settings were only just being put in.
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