PLAINS COUNTY WORKS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4379, 17 February 1922, Page 1

PLAINS COUNTY WORKS.

ENGINEER’S REPORT. The engineer’s report for the month of January, which was presented at the last meeting of! the Hauraki Plains County Council, reads as follows : Tahuna Quarry.—The work of getting metal from the Tahuna quarry has been continued during the month, but the spell of wet weather considerably retarded operations. As the four trucks employed on the tramline appeared to be too heavy, and were unable to transport sufficient metal to the hopper to keep the two motor trucks fully employed, fifteen %yd secondhand trucks from the Talisman mine were purheased. Some of the trucks need timber repairs, but all of the iromwork and wheels are in good order, and the cost will be below that of four new trucks similar to the ones previously in use. Or. Whitechurch and myself interviewed the contractor at the quarry and fixed a new price for th© best of the quarry. The quarry is not opening out too well, the stone being only secondclass quality and a fair depth of earth on top. With, the present supply of trucks the contractor will be able to place more men, and a good deal of metal should be carted out and placed on the road during the summer.. Wilson’s Road.—Tenders were invited for completion of the formation of this road, and the work has been let to Mr, G. Brown, who is now proceeding with the work. The tractor, however, is giving a. lot of trouble, and it would appear as if some peri son had been tampering with its mechanism. A previous driver some time ago .also complained'of somebody interfering with th© works of the machine- The , road is now in good order for forming, and it is completed a good deal of traffic will be diverted from the main road. McDonald’s Bridge,—An old, small bridge on the main Waitakaruru-Kai-here road near McDonald’s was washed away during the recent rains. Some of the 'settlers near by placed it over the stream again, and a number of planks from Patetonga were .brought to the site. The old bridge is only a bush one, ahd should be replaced by a new structure in con-, crete. A fail’ amount of filling will be-required, and a new channel will need to be made for the water, as the present one is very winding and is choked with flax and other growth. Paeroa-Netherton Road Bridges.— Both the small bridges on the PaeroaNetherton Road are fairly sound, with the exception of some of the planking, jvhich is worn thin. Both bridges are at an awkward angle for traffic. The stringers in Laughlin’s bridge appear to be sound, and in ordinary, circumstances should last for years. The span, however, is far too long, and could be shortened by several feet on either end. Whilst the road is in its present rough state, and having a section near the Kerepeehi corner still unmetalled, I do not think the replacing of either of these bridges by a concrete culvert is. urgent. There are a number of good deck planks on the bridge at the south end of Wilson’s Road which will be available shortly for repair purposes. Metal at Wharepoa.—The heqp of metal which w,as lying on the river bank near the Wharepoa ferry has been carted out by the surfacemen and placed in the worst holes in the roads near by. More metal is re,i quired to place them in passable order.

Pekapeka Road.—The teamster who has been carting logs .along the Pekapeka Road offers to fill in some of the worst holes in the road with metal if the? Council provides a punt load on the river bank near Fisher’s Landing. The whole of the road is in bad repair, and has been so for some time. ' Nothing hut good, hard metal will be of value on this road.