"تقرير لمجلس الجيش عن بلاد الرافدين. بقلم السير جون ب. هيويت، قائد فرسان وسام نجمة الهند، وسام فارس الإمبراطورية البريطانية" [و‎‎٣‎١] (١١٩/٦٦)

35
(C 1781) E 2
to traffic ; or to erect a pontoon bridge with a mechanical means of opening, and a double roadway,
allowing the heavy streams of traffic to work both ways at once. The latter method was adopted, and
the results, in our judgment, have amply justified this prevision.
A wooden trestle bridge with a double roadway and a pontoon opening has now been constructed.
The total length is nearly 700 feet. The pontoon opening consists of 10 pontoons, spaced at 30 feet
centres, giving a clear opening of 250 feet. It opens downstream, being closed by a wire cable and
winding engine from the right bank. The action is very rapid, the bridge opening in two minutes and
closing in four. The fixed portion of the bridge is well protected by a chain carried on dolphins upstream
of the bridge.
The river traffic through the bridge is from 28 to 38 boats a day, exclusive of native craft. The
normal traffic across the bridge is calculated at 110 vehicles, 410 pack animals and 4,200 pedestrians
a day. This is swelled by many thousands when troops arrive at railhead. The provision of a less
efficient means of opening would have hampered the movement of troops, and led to slower navigation
of the river at a time when rapid movement was of prime importance.
The cost of the bridge has been as follows :—
Rs. £
Bridge with pontoon opening.. .. .. .. .. 2,78,861 (18,591)
Buffer protection dolphin chain .. . . .. .. 26,097 (1,740)
Engine house .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9,993 (666)
Machinery .. .. .. ..... .. .. 25,360 (1,690)
Rs. 3,40,311 (£22,687)
The cost is calculated at war rates, but does not include charges for freight.
Messrs. Buckley and Roche are of opinion that the general design and workmanship of the bridge
are excellent; that it is particularly stable ; and that with due provision for the maintenance of the
pontoons it should last many years. They also consider the cost to be extremely moderate. The struc
ture of the bridge is better than it need have been had only the requirements of the civil population been
considered. At the same time a good bridge at this point is an essential need in peace time, and it will
continue to be of use to the troops stationed at Amarah. The civil administration will obtain a good
bargain if it pays half the cost of this durable bridge.
Railways.
76. The question of the debit to the civil administration of charges connected with the railways to
be maintained in Mesopotamia is a very complicated one.
The railway lines are :—
(1) Standard gauge (4 feet 8| inches): (i) Baghdad to Samarrah (75 miles), constructed by the Baghdad
Railway Company; (ii) Samarrah-Tikrit-Baiji extension (58'5 miles); (hi) Baghdad to
Fallujah and Dhibban (46'25 miles) on the Euphrates ; (iv) Baghdad to Hillah (59'5 miles),
contructed to tap the Euphrates area of cultivation.
(2) Metre gauge: (i) Basrah to Nasiriyah (138-75 miles), to be extended to Baghdad via Hillah;
(ii) Basrah to Amarah (109 miles) ; (iii) Kut to Baghdad (110 miles) ; (iv) Baghdad to Khani-
quin (102 miles), to be extended ; (v) Basrah to Jabal Sinan quarry (23- 5 miles).
(3) There is a short line (2 feet 6 inch gauge) from Hillah to Kifl (21 miles), constructed in order to
transport grain collected by boats on the Euphrates to the depot of the Directorate of Local
Resources at Hillah.
Some of the lines constructed for military purposes have no ballast, while others need protection
against floods which has not been provided in a permanent form. The alignment of some lines would,
had they been designed in the first instance to meet civil needs, have been different from that adopted..
A striking instance of this is the Baghdad-Khaniquin line. Had the line been planned as a commercial
concern it would have been laid west of the Diyalah up to Qizil Robat, in view of an easier alignment
through the Jabal Hamrin, and also of the extension now sanctioned towards Kifri and Kirkuk, and
thence to Erbil and Mosul. Owing to the disposition of the enemy it was necessary to cross the Diyalah
at Baqubah, and thence to keep to the left bank of the river. There is, therefore, very good reason why
the civil administration should not pay the full cost of the line, particularly for such a work as the new
bridge over the Diyalah at Baqubah. Again, the decision that the route from Basrah to Baghdad shall
be via Nasiriyah and Hillah does not set at rest all uncertainty as to which of the lines devised for military
purposes it may be unnecessary for the civil administration to maintain. The Director of Railways kindly
placed at my disposal all the information in his possession. Plant and machinery form the greater part
of the value of the railways. The condition of the locomotives and rolling stock supplied from the different
railway systems in India varies very greatly, and up to date the terms on which they are to be taken over
by the Army do not appear to have been settled by the Railway Board in India. Nor are figures available
to show the charges for material supplied by the War Office. The types are numerous : no less than 70
of metre gauge waggons, and 21 of metre gauge locomotives. There is no doubt, speaking generally,
that the expenditure incurred during the war far exceeds any sum at which the railways could fairly be
assessed as a commercial concern. The Army has been using the rolling stock on an average for two
years under conditions which made its upkeep to a commercial standard impossible. The different
considerations, however, which would have to be weighed before the terms of a settlement of railway