STREET WORKS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 236, 30 June 1920, Page 7

STREET WORKS

REPORT BY CITY ENGINEER. ( A return prepared by ;th© City-Engin-eer with referenco' to, street works expenditnre' for the period 1914-20 was placed before the City Council on Monday. The return showed that the estimates for 6treet works in ■ 1914-15-was £15,085, and the net expenditure was' .£lfl;i7B 9s. 5d.. the amount involved,on labour'being ,£25,616 12s. Bd. • Eor 1319-20, .£40,378 set down for street works, and the expenditure was .£-19,096 -175., the experidi-. ■turo on, labour being ,£35,789 17s. The; street works expenditure ..for the year 1919-20 inoludcd the following additional expenditure New streets, housing block,Northland. 13s. l0d.;; expenditure by corporation on Onslow, iISSS 10s. 2d.: total. .£3169 4s.

. In the greater improvement of many, of the secondary streets of tire city, anil also to enable footpaths to be instructed at a more.satisfactory rate than' at pre-. eent, Mr. Morton strongly urged that.the council should consider the. advisability of procuring' a tar macadam mixer. The present system of' water-,, bound maendam construction was quite. unsuitable-to doalwith tho trafEo which' now,obtains in this city, and which had completely altered during a comparative- ; ly few years., In wet.weather the dam-' agfng results of motor traffic and the ' formation of pot-holes was distinctly bo- 1 ticeable.. The cost of metal was so great and the. difficulties in procuring l suitable binding material were such that ■' at the earliest possible moment the'pre-' sent, method should be discarded in the! more important secondary-streets, and such roads should be constructed in tar-1 fed macadam. "Recently in tho council question? have been asked regarding themethod of applying tar and-sand to road our fa ccs in this city," said '-Mr.''Morton/ "I am perfectly satisfied''that the. magnitude of the work required to be done is' ■not understood. There are over 100,0001 superficial ß yards of road surface in thisj city which require to bo' attended to. If a rainv season occurs it i? absolutelyimpossible for this work to bo done every' year. It is not, however, necessary that' it 6hould be done every year, but the : more speedily such work can be done the, better. I propose to submit a further' report concerning 6uch work." ' . . Authority was given .-the City Engineer to procure plant for carrying out tat works on the city , streets. .