PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. No. IV.

Evening Star, Issue 2956, 9 August 1872, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. No. IV.

I!AILAVAY CONSTRUCTION - . The following is the report of the En-gineer-in-Chief on the Clutha and Mataura railways : Public Works Olfico, Wellington, 7th June, 1872. Sir, —The Invercargill raid Mai aura railway forms tho western section of the proposed Otago trunk line, of which the Dunedin and Clutha railway forms the eastern section. Both (>•' these lines have been sanctioned by the Legislature, and will be carried on simultaneously. It is not at present proposed to construct the middle section from Clutha to Mataura ; but it is necessary, in estimating the probable ievoiuio of the Invercargill and Mataura railway, to lake into consideration its probable future construction, and the large extension of traffic which would follow.

At present, the traffic lu. tween Invercargill and Dunedin is done almost entirely by sea, but on the completion of the Invercargill and Mataura, Dunedin and Clutha railways, a great part will go by land. There is also a largo traffic between Dunedin and Lake Wakatipn, a part of which will be diverted from its present channel, on the completion of the Dunedin and Clutha, In-

vercargill and Mataura, Winton, and Kings* ton railways, all of which will be completed nearly at the same time; and the whole of this traffic will be diverted when the middle section of the trunk line from Clutha to Mataura is completed. It is estimated that the amount now paid by passengers and goods along the line of the railway is L7OOO a year ; to which must be added L3OOO for the expected increase in the business of the Woodlan Is Meat Preserving Works, making Ll0,000; and it may be safely assumed that the total amount paid for carriage will increase rather than decrease with the cheapness and facilities which the railways will offer. I think it a very moderate estimate to assume that the local traffic will rise to at least L 12,300 a year, at which I estimate the working expenses, including removal of permanent way and rolling stock. The through traffic between Invercargill and Dunedin, and Lake Wakatipu and Dunedin, would cover renewal of bridges and other timber work, and probably leave enough to pay a small dividend. When the middle line from Clutha to Mataura is finished, there would be, I have little doubt, sufficient traffic to pay a fair dividend on the whole cost.

The indirect advantages of the railway will he great. The traffic of the and Invercargill Railway will he largely increased, and a fine agricultural district will he opened up at a cost very little exceeding what would be required for a macadamized road.

The line passes through a generally favour* able country. There is, however, one cut* ting containing 95 000 cubic yards hauled on an average three-quarters of a mile. The most important structure is the Mataura bridge, consisting of 10 timber spans of 40 feet, supported on masonry piers and abutments. There are nine other bridges, of an aggregate length of 567 feet. The rails will be 40 lbs to the yard on cross sleepers, bedded in ballast.

The gradients and carves are comparatively easy.

Public Works Office, Wellington, 4th July, 1872. Sir, —This railway is perhaps the best placed of all the proposed lines in New Zealand for doing a large traffic. It is of sufficient length, and passes through a fertile district, which is well settled. An estimate of revenue was prepared in 1865 by the late Mr Patterson, in which he estimates the gross revenue at L 118,750, and tl'.e net revenue at L 45,500 per annum, or 16 per cent, per annum on the cost, as let to Messrs Brogden. This is certainly too sanguine. The following appeals to me to be more nearly what may be expected :

This represents a profit of about 6 per cent. per annum. The line is unfavorable as regards gradients and curves, the worst part being at the Chain Hills, where curves of 74 chains radius occur on a gradient of 1 in 40. We take the following statement of the contracts accepted, and the opinion of the Eng neer-in- Chief, Mr Carruthers, from a Parliamentary papers :—The works which Messrs Brogdcn have tendered for, and for which their tenders have been accepted, are :

When account is taken of the contingencies of rise in cost (due more to the scarcity of skilled sub-contractors, iron masters, founders, mechanics, and others, than to any actual rise in the price of labour) Avhich takes place even in England and other thickly pcopl d countries, on the beginning of large public works, I am of opinion that the work would not be done by small contractors cheaper, on the whole, than Messrs Brogden have contracted to do it, while the risk to the Government is of course much rc« duced, or altogether done away with, by having a firm with a reputation. Note.—lt will be seen from the above that the cost per mile from New Market to Mercer will be L4,2G7 10s; from Napier to Puki Puki, about L 2,800 ; from Wellington to the Hutt, L 3,577; Picton to Blenheim, L 4.417 ; Dunedin to Clutha, Taieri section, L 4,110 ; and Invercargill to Mataura, L 2191. Even the most captious cannot complain, for as far as we are aware, every line is within the engineer's estimate.

£ s. d. Passengers, through, 9,000, at 12s 6d 5,625 0 0 Passengers, 20 miles, 12,000, at 5s 3.000 0 0 Passengers, 6 miles, 45,000, at Is (3d 3,375 0 0 Coal, 60,000 tons, at 3s 4d ... 10,000 0 0 Merchandise, 35,000 tons, at 10s 17,500 0 0 Timber, 60,000 feet, at 4s 12,000 0 0 Sundries 1,000 0 0 Total receipts ... £52,500 0 0 Working expenses 36,000 0 0 Net revenue ... £16,500 0 0

MainMiles, tion. tenanoe. Newmarket to £ £ Mercer 39 07 166,721 2200 Napier to Puki Puki 18.13 50,807 860 Wellington to Hutt 8.00 28,616 400 Picton to Blenheim 17.10 75,534 1000 Dunedin to Clutha (Taigri section) 34 55 142,000 1835 Invercargill to Mataura 39,56 86,697 2135 Total .., 136.01 550,378 8430