THE DUSTY PAST

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1934, Page 8

THE DUSTY PAST

A RETROSPECT

TEN YEARS'; PAVING

STANDING UP WELL

The first decade in the city's paving programme was reached on December 15 last, and the improvement in the absence of dust will be best appreciated if the mind, is cast back to periods of similar gusty westerly weather such as is being experienced today, before the majority of the main streets were paved. Then clouds of dust invaded Thorndon Quay, Courtenay Place, Jcrvois Quay, and Cambridge Terrace, causing pedestrians and housewives annoyance and work, and finding their way into shops and food., Up to about 1920 Wellington, couia only boast of. some four miles of woodblocked, areas in the main central portions of the city, the rest of the main arterial traffic roads consisting of waterbound macadam. What the dust nuisance and the repair bill would have been if that condition, of surfacing had remained until today, when the trans^ port of the city has increased tremendously, it is hard to say, but the end of these conditions was in sight. SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT. After his return from his trip abroad the late Mr. W. H. Morton, who had thoroughly investigated paving conditions throughout his tour overseas, recommended the inception of a tar macadam treatment, and this was shortly iipplied to streets such as Customhouse Quay, Lanibton Quay, and Brandon, Waring-Taylor, Panama, Featherston, and Dixon Streets. For this purpose a tar macadam paving plant was imported, .and these streets soon had a new surface. This successful experiment was the forerunner. of the City Council launching out on a system- of paving with asphaltic concrete, commonly known as bituminous mix. Asa preliminary the late Mr. Morton carried out experimental work in this class of paving in Cambridge Terrace, portion of Kent Terrace, and Ghuznee Street during the paving season of 1922, and midway through the following . year the City Council made' arrangements for calling tenders for a modern paving plant, which commenced its first work in the paving of the Hutfc Road, which work, after the calling of tenders, and the decision of the City Council to carry it out by the work of its own staff, commenced on December 15, 1923. There was a considerable controversy at tho time as to this class of surface treatment, but the engineers in charge decided to apply, it to the Hutt Road from fhorndon to Petohe, estimating it to have a ]jfe of ten years without a heavy cost of maintenance. That prediction has been nibre'than justified, inasmuch as this original road has received no maintenance except one sealing coat, which the engineers considered when the work was started, would be necessary at least every ~fivo years, perhaps every, two, but'which has not proved to bo necessary. It is : understood_ that the original contract cost of this portion of the Toad was in the vicinity of. £40,000, but as the Hutt~ Road Board, as then constituted, was spending from £3000 to £4000 \ per annum in maintaining its water-bound macadam road, the ten years' life already given would have been met by the original charge . for maintenance. VALUAI^E WORK. V The original five miles of this paving was such a success, however, that it led to the reconstitution of the Hutt Road Board into the. City,., and Suburban Highways Board, which extended its activities without any.; extra cost, resulting in a similar class, of roading being extended from Wellington to the Upper Hutt, approximately 22 miles, and also round the" eastern foreshore to Eastbourne, and to Porirua on the western coast northwards, apart from the rest of the roads done, including Thorndon Quay, and round the waterfront of Wellington. This work was carried out concurrently with the big: paving programmes of 1925' and 1927 paving loans, the latter. also providing for footpath construction, and- it can be claimed that a great deal of this work, which has entered into its tenthyear of, life, has done very, much to add paving transform- Wellington from an unpleasant city to live in into a modern city whero life.is.a pleasure. Without obtaining detailed figures, it is a safe approximation, to state that fully 100 miles of city streets and. suburban highways have been converted Into modern surfaces, and it must not be forgotten,, however much' was said against this, elastic surfacing, that in a city like Wellington, where the underground services of reticulation of light, gas, and water supply, are constantly being, pulled-up, apart altogether from bursti mains, etc., that., the time taken in these repairs ;and. alterations has been minimised by the ease with which tho surface has been replaced in as good order as before.

The way in which the paving as a whole is standing ireflects credit not only upon the methods used, but also on the conscientious work of the city officers concerned.