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Railway will be completed and it is most important to commence their construction as soon as possible. Location of the crossing of the East River itself is also important, as this must be near Sheklung and the position of the station to accommodate that important town will depend on it.
An estimate of cost of the Railway was drawn up on the basis that, although sufficient provision was made for the construction of the works and payment of interest during construction out of capital, it was assumed that the Railway would be completed with all reasonable despatch, and that there would be no avoidable delay.
In designing the bridge, provision for floods will be a serious factor and the nature of the foundations an equally important one. We do not know whether the bridge designs are far advanced or not, but at any rate, the construction of the superstructure will take a long time and if there is to be no avoidable delay in building these bridges the contract for the girders should now be placed; possibly these are being dealt with in China and it is not intended to order them in this country.
The estimate has of course not yet been completed and there is, we fancy, no prospect of this being ready for some time. There is therefore of course no means at present of forecasting what the Railway will cost as now laid out.
It should be remembered that the preliminary estimate and the non-provision of such things, for example, as would be entailed by the failure to prepare in advance the necessary plant, girderwork, other material for construction, land in good time, &c., any delays of this kind will naturally entail unnecessary and unproductive capital expenditure, and the sum provided by the Loan may prove insufficient, but unless and until the final estimate, plans and sections of the line, as finally laid out, as well as a descriptive report of the proposed works come to hand, we are not in a position to give any opinion on the matter.
We can only say, however, that unless these important matters are completed forthwith, and the bridge girders designed and put in hand almost at once, there is every probability of the estimated time for construction being exceeded, and therefore of the sum provided being insufficient.