THE BUILDING OF GOOD ROADS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1898, 5 November 1913, Page 12

THE BUILDING OF GOOD ROADS.

ELTHAM'S EXPERIENCE.

LIFE OF THE HIGHWAYS DOUBLED.

A PROGRESSIVE COUNTRY.

In Eltham County, Taranaki. are to bo found the best country roads in all Now Zealand. The county is one of tlio most progressive in tlio Dominion, and its engineer, Mr. F. Basham, is an enthusiast on the subject of road-mak-ing. A3 is explained elsewhere, road metal is exceedingly expensive in Taranaki, and the counties have to pay an avcrago of about 10s. for each cubic yard of metal laid on the roads. The inet.ul has for the most part to bo taken out of the bods of narrow streams sunk between steep banks, and it is often a matter of difficulty to bring it up to tlio crushing plant. The State, years ago, held out a promiso of a groat quarry for road niotnl on Mount moni, but so far the line from Waiuku Station tip to the quarry aito remains incomplete, and the only metal yot opened up is 110 more than sufficient to moot the requirements of railways for ballasting purposes. The counties are still waiting for assistance, and meanwhile large sums are being paid away in picking out stones from the streams.

Tlie great problem in Taratiaki is to make the roads last as long as the loans. Money, for instance, is borrowed for a term of thirty or forty years to metal a road, but' before half the time has expired the road is a ruin and more money; lias to be borrowed to re- 1 mako it.' This means that the ono pieoe of road will sometimes have two or three loans outstanding on it, and sound finance becomes an impossibility. An End to Tlnkorlng. Eltham ia a wide-awakg and well-to-do oounty, and some years back it doeided that it was high time to stop tinkering with roads on antiquated lines' and build eomethins; that would last. On the recommendation of its engineer it bogan by buying a steam road roller and adopting modern methods of macadamising. The result of this is now to be see.ii through the county, and gradually other counties in Taranaki have followed suit, until to-day there are cloven steam rollers at work in tho province, whereas, up to so recently as three yea.rs ago, Eltham's roller was the only one on tho roads. Latterly Mr. Basham has tried further improvements by tar-spraying some twelve miles of road. A plant costing £700 was purchased for the work, and ft coating of tar and sand laid down over tho surface of tho toad at a cost of £45 a mile. The first coating of tar was given a year ago, and a second coating will bo put on almost immediately. The surfaco of tho roads that havo been treated—notably, the main road from Eltham to Kaponga—is to-day like that of a eity asphalt footpath. Although there is very heavy traffic across the road, including tho bulk of the carting out to tho Qpunake district, tho coating of tar is only just wearing through, and tho metal below remains intact-. As thero was a good deal of dust on the road in places when tho tar was laid down it did not take too evenly, and tho second coating now to be laid should last longer and wear better than that first applied. By this mothod of road treatment all tho wear is taken, not by the motal, hut by the surface-dressing of tar and Band, and Mr. Basham estimates that the life of a road so treated will bo increased by at least 100 per cent. An incomparably better surface is obtained, and tho annual cost of main* ten it nee ia reduced from £300 por mile under the old system to £45 per mile for an annual coat of'tar and sand.

In addition to tho surface-spraying an experiment ha-s been made in tarring macadam in situ, that is to Bay, the metal is laid down, and, before being rolled in, tar is played on to it so as to get in among the interstices of tho stones, and then the roller is run over it, and the wholo bound down into a solid mass. About two mites of ros'd has been treated by this method at a cost of £3 a chain, in addition to the metal. This is considered to form as nearly permanent & road M it is possible to obtain. Low Malntenanoo Cost. About 40 miles of road is to be tarsprayed this year, and when tho work is completed tho county will have about GO miles of tho finest road to bo found in any part of tho Dominion, and tho maintcnanco charges over this length of road will bo reduced by over 75 per cent. It will thus bo seen tlmt there is solid money to bo saved by adopting up-to-date methods of road-making. Mr. Ilasham states that ho is quito prepared to admit that it is possible that after a certain number of coats have been given with a tar-sprayer the Mankct of tar and sand overlaying tho metal will begin to cako off, and come adrift, but after allowing for difficulties of this sort, tho margin of saving and the oxcollenco of tho road surface obtained for traffic in the meantime Idavo an amplo margin for entries on the othor side of tho ledger. Sir. Basham states that a road properly metalled to a depth of six inches, and thon tarsprayed will last far longer, and give a much better surface than a road metalled to a depth of twclvo inches, and loft in tho ordinary way. An Engineer's Roport, Tho roads of Eltham County have boon attracting wide attention from oounty engineers throughout, tho Dominion, and many visits of inspection havo been paid to the district. As tlu innttor of ronj-mnking in of such vitni ooao&rn to tlio couatiy, lis fcilowicj;!

report ou a visit to Eltham by Mr. Thomas Black, ongineer to tho Levels County Council, is of interest, as treating tlio subject from a solidly practical point of view: — "As instructed," states Mr. Elaok, "I inspected different kinds of plants in Canterbury and in Taranaki. I saw tho plants under working conditions in Christehurch and in tho Eltham County, and I also had the opportunity of inspecting the work dope in several other counties in Taranaki, and also in different boroughs. . . . Owing to tho courtesy of Sir. Quinn, chairman'of tho Eltham County Council, and Mr. F. Basham, tho County Engineer, I was enabled to study which, in my opinion, is tho most up-to-date method of road construction in New Zealand, in a district where every difficulty is put iu the wav of constructing good roads. 11l the first place, the heavy Taranaki subsoil makes a very poor road foundation, compared with South Canterbury clay and shingle. Secondly, the rainfall is much greater than down hero, and also

the procuring of a. sufficient supply of good road metal is a matter of great difficulty rind oxpeuso. Taranakl's DlfTioultloa. "gujmg vmj;,, jnsi^c^i^Jjjfound no ■quafries v ßuch as'fre is washed down from Mount. Egmont into tho beds of numerous orooks. Those oredks are also very different from ours, they run between steep banks, varying from several feet high to at least 30ft., and in vory few places are deposits of good gravel to be found. Tracks are out to the oreek bottom, and the boulders ar« catted up from the creek bed to the. orushor frith bullock-drays. Also, owing to the boulders being weathered so long, the coat of epallirig is considerftßly greater.

"To give you some idea of the cost of metal, tno following aro examples of some of the contracts lot during tho last two or three years:—Metal procured, spalled-, crushed, and carted to Bite of road—the council to undertake spreading, rolling, and blinding:~ 22,000 cubic yards at ... lis. lOd. 8,000 cubic yards at ... lis. sd. 6,000 cubic yards at ... 13s. lid. "From , this you can well understand that the metal being as costly to procure, and also having a long experience of the groat waste under the old. methods of road' maintenance, the Eltham County Council were compelled to alter their methods of road construction and. adopt one that would enable the best use to bo made of such expensive material. Finally, under Mr. Basham's advice, the council decided te adopt the best English practico with modifications recommended by Mr. Basham, as best suited to local conditions. Tho outcome of this was that the council decided to float a loan to reconstruct Mid metal most of the country roads. A loan of some £55,000 was raised, and the council proceeded with tho reconstruction of all their roads, At first one steam roller and scarifier was purchased, but the council were si satisfied with the work of this machine and the saving effected, that they Soon bought two other rollers and scarifiers to expedite the work of reconstruction.

er spraying. "Again, rtfter careful experiment it was found xhat tho cost of tar spray-

ing the. surfnoo wms well recouped in the longer Ufo of the metal, therefore the council purchased an Aitkcn tar spnooi Sited up a 45,000-gallon reinforced enneroto tank to hold and season their rar supply, and also bought Mio necessary *oad sweeper and portable boilers, etc., .for heating tlio tar. The council and the engineer are quito satisfied that this method of finishing tlio joads is going to effect a great saving in tlio cost of maintenance. In tlio last main roads constructed a furthor improvement has been made by spreading and lolling in a 3-inch eoat, of tarred screenings or small gravel. I was driven over a piece of road just com* ploted in this maimor, and tl must .paaikUy ftd&ib thai it .frjn tio Enoat

picoo of country road Biirfaoo I Imd «vor boon on.

The council do tho work of reforming, grading, rolling, blinding, and "H'slung, by day labour. Tenders ar© Called for tlio supply of broken metal. In m&itttenanco work t'ho.y do a certain portion of crushing and screening with i -j OWB P' council's plant besides tho ordinary ploughs, scoops, grndors, ©to, oonsists of tlio following: —-Ono Foiylor steam roller and scarifier (C-li.p.); 2 Avoning Porter steam rollers and' Bc.irifiors (G-h.p.); 8 watercarts, huts, Anderson s complete crasher; Aitkeii tar sprayer, tar boilers, oto., and street sweepor. Tho council havo a good workshop, but 110 engine shed. ,11io ongincs, however, are fitted with covers, and ono of the drivers had contrived ail ingenious method of tarpaulin covering for tlio engiiies. Tlio ; drivera aro cmployod practically all tho year, when iiot employed at roadsida thoy aro found other work, repairing ■plant, oto.

"Tho • council do not undertake any hauling by traction engine; in fact, no traction engine hauling is permitted. Tho heaviest load I noticed on tho. roads was ft load of ore.™ cans in a four-wheeled lorry, and this was fitted' with extra wido tires I found' the crushing plant a groat improvement on. any I _ had seen before., Tho machine: is very strongly niado, and' runs very B-wectly. It iis fitted with revolving screens, a good elevator, affld portable bins. Its portability and handiness appealed to me very much. No daya wasted in setting as with our crusher, tho whole machino being ready to commenco within 30 minutes from timo of arriving at quarry. "And, oh I what an improvement in the sample of metal it turned out, the. screening and grading turning out just tho gaugo required for re-slieoting worn surfaces. The portable bins aro also ft great convenience, and must greatly reduces tfho cost of crushing, as tho crusher oan be kopt going most of the working day, where metal has to bo carted an average distance. Cost of MataJ. "In places whore tho spalls were an J" ways handy, Mr. Baaham assured .me that the metal oould bo crushed, screened, gauged, and filled for, say, Is. 3d. per ou.bio yard. Again in the crushing there was generally enough screenings taken out to blind the motal coat. Tho screenings being niost suitable binding material procurable. On now toad tlio rollers will consolidate from 80 to 100 cubic yards per day at a cost of 6d. per cubio yard, and on maintenance work according to the amount to be rolled in ono place. Tho scarifying costs from Id. lo id. per square yard! "After carefully going into the wholo . matter I consider that tho steam plant carefully handled will cause a great; saving in maintenance, and the road, finished with machinery is far superior' to one consolidated by traffic," Mr.. Baslvam considers that metal properly consolidated will wear at least 25 per oeiit. longer. Also for gravelled roads after they have been scarified to a depth of, fiay, lfr inches, they call be re-sheet-ed with a coat of 3-incli metal and tolled, leaving the roads in good order for an average of fivo years.

"Our average output of first-class road metal is between £000 and 6000 cubic yards per annum, _ and the average cost oh tlie Toad is 7s. 6d. per. cubic yardj therefore on this one item alone I estimate that the machinery will effect a saving of at least £400 per year in tho longer life of the road bod. Again, rolling with traction engino costa your council .at least £1,50 per annum for most unsatisfactory work, and this amount will more than pay tlie interest oil tho plant. Also, we have a great length of matsl roads which have been spoiled by excessive loading of traotioiit.«ngin.os.i' : !.sfi;theso woije Boarified, the metal raked into p!ac(s, and ft' littlo new metal added, theso roads In' many looalitiefl would remain in good order for, a number of, y^ars.

" I must admit "that tho method <>f read construction and maintenance in the Elfham County is quite boyond anything wo are likely to take in hand* but even tho majority of tha other local bodies in Tariuiaki have eteam rollorfl and soariflers. Some nine years ago there was only on ft plant la use, but to-day there we ot least tin. showing that the local bodies are quite satisfied that the plants aro a paying preposition. Therefore I strongly recommend your council to purehaso a plant, estimated to cost as under; —Eight h.p. flomtwund traction engine complete, £8.82; parts for conversion, into road roller, £225; scarifier, £105: modern stone crusher, complete, £370: portable bins, £240; water cart, £40; sundries {say), £40; total, £1902. "I estimate tho cost per day of tlie tollor arid scarifier allowing for, say, 200 working days in the year, its under Driver, 10s. per day; stceror, Bs, 6d. per day; coal, fs. Gd. per day; ou and waste, Is, 6d. per day; interest at 5 per cont., 75.; depreciation, Bs,; carting water, 7a. 6d; total, Bay, 10s per <3av. Estimating that the roller witi consolidate' 100 cubic yards of motel per day, the cost of rolling worko out at 6d. por cubic yard.

BIG FURNITURE WAREHOUSE. ■ One of tho oldest landmarks in Pal* merston i 9 the business premises of Mr. W Pel?(leu. As tho town and country interests ahvo (frown and become importance, so ha? Mir, Pegdim s furniture and complete house furnishing establishment been extended to meet tlio gteivin# r» auirements of a thriving town and diS' trict. l f or 27 years this house has boon known as a leading place for all furnishine requisites, where the purchaser deals direct with the manufacturer. WW stocks of high-class, unique, and artistio furnishings nro displayed to advantage withih the showrooms, and indicate the wide field over which Mr. l'egden a busi-

ness extend* A staff of about thirty is cmplov*d, and it is an ndmvUcd fact that Pegden's furniture js of highest quality and wwkinaJishm. Messrs. 11. I'. M'NeiU, and Co., 155 I Fentherst'on Street, Wellington, elsewhere ' direct attention to a s hifyUy-flultivatod agricultural Mid fattening farm of 1.025 , a"res, freehold, which they havo received instructions to sell at #14 per ne'ro (equity .£5500) or to exchange for partly improved "busk farm or a town projwrty. Situate 'five miles from railway station and township, 1100 acres under crop, balance English grasses, carrying 2000 b.ig slvoop oud 100 head fat catilo (lOi) a ere J in oats) with homestead, woolshod, etc.. makoti this proposition one of unusual importance to I'.ho man who wants An iiuhiediatn profitabla investment for liia eapittsl. •