Engineer's Report

Horowhenua Chronicle, 9 October 1915, Page 2

Engineer's Report

JiNGINEJSft'S tUii'OllX. Tlie monthly report, submitted by tlu County Engineer, Mr J. Malcolm, reac as follows:— . To Horo Hiding. I All the roads in the riding with tvl exceptions arc in lair order. The tw exceptions I, refer to arc the Wailio anga road and. the new road across the swamp iu Monckton and Addington's subdivision; the Waihoanga road needi a thorough overhauls, and Tlie swami ■I«>ad needs the ruts raked in and trimmed. The large culvert at Hadfield ha< been laid in place and ther(T?s"noAV onlj one culvert of any size on the main road that needs renewal and it 1 propose to get done soon. The proposal to appoint an extra surfaceman for this riding is a good one. I find then was ,€122 paid for casual labour in tin last twelve months, and that was 101 mutual labour only, and does not include what has been spent for Inborn on t4IG Ueikiorangi road. I would suggest the appointment of another man ; we could then re-divide their lengths and make one of them responsible tor the care of the Hautore water-race in addition to Iris length. I see by the l'ublic Works Estimates that £150 has been voted for the OtaJci Gorge road extension. I will, as soon as possible, make a arrangement for the expenditure of it. Ofcaki Riidmg. The contractors linieJied their metalling contract during the month and tho roads are all fair now. Tlie Railway Department are making goyxl progress with the construction o! tlie over-bridgo south of Manakau; with reasonable weather it should be finished before our next meeting. We will have to make arrangements about me construction of the approaches. Tlicre will bo a lot of lilling wanted as >.ao new bridge s over four feet higher than the old one. Is the old bridge our property? 1 understand the County Council paid for i' originally; il so it should be ours now. lam counting on it to repiacc uuo ol tho bridges on the Otaki Beach road, as 1 understand all the framing is jarrah, and it still should bo good. The bridge on the lieacli road was almost finished with a traction engine the other day, and will have to be replaced very soon. \\ lien I was out on this road the other day 1 got a great complaint about the way the Town 15oard contractor is disposing of tho nightisoil. The complainant stated there was not two inches of soil covering it. 1 was on my way back and eaunot say that i nave seen it, but 1 think it would be well to notify tlie 'J'own Hoard about it, and lot them see to it. There is still no word about, the title to that piece oi land for the cmetery road. It is must annoying after getting everything really and practically a tender accepted. I have now found that the reserve at the North Manakau bridge is our property; it was sot aside for a gravel reserve. There is only about 3J acres, but we won't have that very long as tlie stream 's encroaching it very fast, and 1 a<m afraid it will cut into tho intake ot the water-race. f have got some netting and propose putting in a groyne to Bare the place. Tlie settlors are going to cart tho stones.

Winukino Killing. All the maintenance metal contracts have been finished in this riding this month; and the contractors are now finishing tlicir Beach road metalling contracts. The widening ol the Fairfield and lvawiu roads is completed and the contractor is now metalling tiie lloslyn road. The contract lor regrading Gladstone road will be started on Monday; the great trouble here is the want ol men at present. The contractor for I'otts's road metalling is taking advantage of the weather whenever suitable. Some patching is required on the Florida and Oiiau West jioads, which 1 will try to get it done as soon as drays are available.

Tokomuru Riding. In thits riding nothing is being done but the usual maintenance. 1 had to replace the superstructures on one ot the bridges on the main road that was smashed up with a traction engine some time ago. lam afraid there are one or two others that will have to be served the same way very soon. 1 bee r a complaint from a new settler about the state of the* Kaihinal road. Although I must confess there is much of it rather humpy lor a motor car 1 assure you 1 have never seen it better since I had anything to do with it. In re Tararua Road Extension. What steps arc to bo taken to get funds t/O construct this road? It seems tho cheque that I was led to believe was held for the purpose was intended for something else. The settlers havo boon promised tho road, and we have now got the title to the land. My estimate of the cost of construction, fencing ai"l tho purchase of the land s £1.200 • In rw - v i'okino Bridge Traliig " Planking. 1 met Mr l ucktoi d, the engineer tor the jUanawutu County, ou tho bridge on the 2-1 th ultimo, and 1 regret to say we could not agree about what wo tihould use for planking. He seems to have got it into his head that nothing will do but 3in. totara. 1 have never seen anything but 2in. used, and 1 tail to see what purpose it would serve, if we make it thicker we will need to renew all the cross battens as they are now worn down to about ljin. thick. 11 we use -in. planking the greater part of the batons will do for years. I recommended him to use 2in jarrah. The difference in thickness would make it the cheapest, and he would not agree, but as there is another contributing body I. think it would be well to let them have a say (I mean the Foxton Borough Council). I think lean salely guarantee that for £150 I could fix up the bridge that it would not require any more for five or six years. I would have recommend asphalt, but we have no roller, and another thing suitable (shingle) is very hard to procure at the place. I hear the Rangitikei County Council have done the Bulls bridge and it is a very good job. i