COUNTY ENGINEER'S REPORT

Horowhenua Chronicle, 8 April 1916, Page 2

COUNTY ENGINEER'S REPORT

The county engineer (Mr J. Malcolm; submitted the to]lowing report lo the council at its meeting to-day Te Horo Riding. J lie time is now opportune tor cleaning the drains on the Pahiko estate, according u> the Bettleis own showing, i. beg to recommend that notices oe served on ail occupiers to get the work clone as soon as possible; of course those 011 the lower Mangaone end wiil have to get to work first. nave arranged with jlr Williams, of Otaki, to iiistal three acetylene lamps at Te Horo; they aii promised to-day or Monday. 1 met Mr llusling, of the Otaki Gorge, on or near the place where lie proposes to erect the stock bridge to give access to his place. 1 have the distance across and estimate the towers or trestles to carry .he roadway will cost about £18. iam counting on making them ol' jarjrah. The contractors for the Gorge road extension are going «head all right. i believe with their work. I will, with your permission, call tenders for the culvert and necessary tolling for the stream that crosses the main road north of Hadfield. I get many complaints every month about it, and it is the only stream unbridged from end to end] of the county.

Ofcaki Riding. The principal work in hand in luling this month has iieen the approucnes to the ovcrbridgc; the raising (.; the roadway has entailed a great deal of extra labour. There ie a. great amount oi' work dune, out it •will require a good deal more to make the roadway safe; the metalling is done; it took over 300 yards. j have got the plan ready for tne deviation of the W'aikawa beach road, but there are still some growing, crops in the way oi the work being done. I promised to give them n chance to get them up out or the w;iy before commencing the worn. I see the Otaki Town Board have at last succeeded in acquiring the land for the cejuetery road. i propose oalimg on the contractor w> go on with the construction of it us soon as j. near when large pipes will be available. 1 propose borrowing or hiring the stonecnislier liom the Wirokino riding wnen it has served its purpose here, to crush metal required for the northern end of...the riding. 1 proposed it two years ago but nothing came of it; but something will have to be done this time as the, road is done completely. I think the stones could be got "from Mr T. Bevnn's paddocEs, and 1 think it iikcJy he would do a great deal towards picking them up.

Wirokino Riding. I regret to have to report that a serious breach has been made a tew chains above the upper Ohau bridge. The willow protection that lias served' the purpose for years has been completely scoured out for chains. My attention was recently called _to bhe matter, but as soon as 1 saw it i sent away an order for w ire-netting and am daily expecting it. When it comes forward 1 propose constructing a airly iarge groyne to try to stop it; 1 am afraid of what might happen if a flood comes before anything is done, propose with your leave to call tor tenders for crushing the maintenance metal "for the roads around Levin. Ihe Borough Council are getting on well and we may do the same. I wouW ask that a committee be 6et up to deal with the tenders as it will be winter before our next meeting. i have had the worst holes filled in the Levin to Foxton road. It n ill no able to stand untii the usual maintenance metal is laid. The Manawotu County Council have at last got to the repairs to the Wirokino bridge; they were much needed.

* Tokomaru Riding, In reference to Mr Southee's complaint left to me to report on at next meeting. 1 have inspected the mattei and I find to give Mr Southen what ho asks for it will be necessarv To get. the owners of the section on the western side o? the road, or opposite to linn, to deepen their drain about 18m. to take the water away. I think the owners of the section are Messrs Bock alia Loughnaii, of Paimerston North, and f bee to recommend that they bo asked to do this. The Pmetona Road; is now made passable for certain traffic, but it wil hi over be of much use for a motor (flr, Tam s<?n<lin<£ a mail to rhe Tokomaru Valley andi Mangaore roads during the next week to prenare them for the winter. Tlie roads in this riding are all fair. They are broken up a hit with the dry weather, but not as bad as the southern roads.