ROADS OF NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 166, 8 April 1919, Page 9

ROADS OF NEW ZEALAND

AN KNCiINKER'S IMPIiESSIONS. ■ The Lower Hutt iond between Wellington city, and Petone is more remarkable for its'waves and roughness than for comfovt to travellers, wing very ,muclr"pitted" and "pot holed," states tho Engineer to the Waiinea County Council in a report on the roads of New Zealand. Even a stretch that has been tar sealed is little better. At present two steam rollers'arc at work on it, with abundance of water and crushed rock pressing water bound nincndain into tlie yores and ruts of the road. He wns pleased to say tl at tho roads of Nelson were generally as good .as most of the roads in New Zealand, !ind a long way better than many of the roads in the North Island. 'J'hc methods of maintenance, too, appeared to bo quite as efficient in Nelson as in any other part, and as up to date us any ot the counties in tho Dominion.

The roadV radintjng from Auckland eit.) , were a torture to travel over. There tho ordinary macadam roads had be-on put down with sharp edged stones,about ilin. in diameter, which hird never set piuperly, nnd these loose large bouldera were'a trial and a weariness lo fast I ravelling.' Little systematic repair uork was carried out.

Tho Turanaki roads were amongst the best in New Zealand. With the expansion of the dairy industry during the lost ten or twenty years it. was found that Hie.' ordinary methods of laying broken stone or macadamising roads, owing to (ho damp,, unstable, nature of the. subsoil constituting tho foundation of the roadway, would not "stand up" I<> what was required for heavy traffic. Therefore tho method of cementing the stones together by some of the various preparations of colli tar had to be resorted to. This treatment, as it were, formed a bridge workover' the soft and 'yielding earth, i>nd 'distributed the load over a large area, nnd also provided a. smooth, resilient surface to travel upon. These tar macadam ionds have cost largo sums of money raised by loan over ouch separate district. The interest of these loans was met by special rates; in some, cases from !is. to (is. por acre. The maintenance ehargos wuro borno by the ordinary rates and in some parts , by toll-gates. Tho argument was that those using the roads most should pay most directly for their upkeep. The roads through llnvlliorousth vere neutrally rough, dusly, and broken up with tho. dry weather. A'stretch of about 1G miles between Kaikoura and llundalpe was in splendid order, and the green native bush mnde .pleasant travelling ami. picturesque scenery. ■ ~ Through Canterbury in many places the roads were good. Between Christchurch city and h'liinpoi borough tho road <vas decidedly bud. ' . In .(lingo many of tho roads were tnr from excellent. Around Oamaru they were in a-fair way. In Southland Province he lound tho best roads anywhere. There, the roads am level to undulating for miles and miles around Invereargill. The good class of shingle found in Hie rivers traversing tho lowlands nnd plains, coupled with damp climatic, conditions in summer, were very favourable fur tho upkeep of roads.