THE AWAITI BLOCK.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4421, 31 May 1922, Page 1

THE AWAITI BLOCK.

WILL BE GARDEN OF PLAINS. A LARGE DRAINAGE SCHEME. FOUR DREDGES' OPERATING; “When the Awaiti. block is opened up it will be the Garden of the Hauraki Plains,” said Mr J. McGlyri, foreman of the Lands Departments works at Kerepeehi, as we stood on the high land on which is scattered the settlement of Kerepeehi. From our position we obtained an excellent view of, most, of the 2500 .acres comprising the yet unsettled Awaiti block. On the west the Plains extended for miles until they readied the hills. Occasionally we Could pick out the straggling line of settlement, catch a glimpse of Kaihere, and then lose sight of the white ribbon of a road as it wound round among the hills to Patetonga. On the south the present useless land stretched as far as the eye could see, but here no sign of settlement was discernable. CONCENTRATING ON AWAITI. The Department, said Mr. McGlyn, is concentrating on this block, and there are . now four dredges—three land and one floating—doing excellent work on it, digging drains, cutting canals, improving the river, making stop-banks, and forming a road. There, a mile or two'due south,-we could catch a glimpse of a tiny whisp of smoke issuing from a little box-like object, which, it was explained, was a Priestman (floating) dredge, cutting a canal- My companion then pointed in a more westerly direction and told me there "were three dredges working there. Two of them we could not see. They were hidden - by a grow,th of high ti-tree and swamp vegetation. One of them, a Wilson Walker, was digging a receptacle drain parallel with the Piakb River, and the other, a Bucyrus, was widening and deepening the river, at the same time, forming ..a stop-banK wbh the spoil, it obtained. At the edge of a ti tree belt about threequarters of ,a mile away we could see another of the modern drainage devices. This was the Rood machine, the only one of its kind in New Zealand. and the main object of my visit to Kerepeehi that day. BOATING IN A DRAIN. Descending from the hill we passed the Kerepeehi wharf, where a number of the Department’s men were busily engaged in unloading metal . from a scow and loading it on to trucks, which, were taken away by tractors for road metalling purposes. Close beside the wharf was moored the Department’s s.s. Kerepeehi, for which there will be no more work for a couple ofj months. Moving >n we passed by a line of neat-flooking huts, with, which the workmen are j provided. These huts are a vast Improvement on the tents which were ! provided when the first drainage I

works were commenced about 12 years ago. Crossing a couple of broad planks bridging the canal, leading into the Awaiti block we passed more 'huts. Stores were kept in some of these, while a blacksmith’s shop occupied another. The next stage of our journey was along a rough track on the top of the recently formed stop-hank along the river. We soon ! came to a break in the bank, and saw ' a fussy little oil-engine pumping 1 water from a large excavation, which. ' was the site for; a three-barrel flood 1 -. * gate. Here .the river turned away to the right, and leaving the stop-bang we set out across the swampy land, • our boots at times sinking well into i the soft surface. After crossing a small drain per medium of a plank we came to a larger drain at the far end of which the Rood machine was , operating, A dinghy was tied up close ; by. Though we call ttye waterway « drain it is 14 feet wide at the top and has a depth of .water of three or four feet, so to use boat in it is quite an easy matter. We con- ! tinned the rest of. the way in a dinghy, using the cans as paddles. 1 paused a moment and took a glance at the dredge which we were approaching. It was rocking from side to side like a small boat in a choppy sea or like a motor car on one of the j worst pieces of road on the Hauraki j Plains. I wondered why the monster should be acting in such a manner but I held my. peaces knowing that my guide .would explain everything to me later. KAIHERE-KEREPEEHI ROAD. The Rood machine is a huge affair weighing 45 tons. It is 30 feet long and 18 feet wide. It moves ahead of the drain it is digging and runs onrails which it places ahead of it each time it moves. It is at present diggi.'.’g a drain 14' feet wide at the top, 10 feet wide at the bottom, and 6 feet deep. The spoil from the drain is being thrown on to one side. The drain will be dug to a point opposite the Kaihere Landing, and another drain is to be -cut on the other side of the spoil, which, when consolidated, will be used for road-making. This is the route of the proposed road be- i tween Kaihere and Kerepeehi. The j distance from Kaihere to Paeroa when the road is completed will be reduced by about seven miles. This roadl will also be the means of opening up for settlement somfe beautiful country which is at present occupied only by a few pigs. The soil is amazingly fertile, there is w peat, and with proper drainage ‘it should be ready for occupation in about twelve montns’ or eighteen months’ time, THE ROOD MACHINE. Describing t'he working of the Rood ; dredge, Mr, McGlm explained that it travels on skids with two side spuds (or small skids) ion either side. A series of blocks arid a wire rope lead on to a. drum in the engine room. When .the engine (pulls on the rope the spuds grip in the ground. The

machine is then lifted, sometimes with, a series of jerks, on a side rol leading from the frame of the dredge to the -spud. The side rod is four Inches in diameter, .and takes the weight off one main skid. When the dredge 5s operating thus, it is tilted on one side 1 , its weight being borne •by one main skid and the opposite side rod, which rests on a spud; The ■skid on which there is now no weignt is pulled along the ground for about eight feet by the wire rope. The machine is then drawed down, so that once again it rests on both skids. The same procedure for pulling forwai d the other skid is then gone through, and both skids are again level with each other. Then, by pulling ajever iconnected with the centie drum in the engine, the whole dredge rolls along on' six carriage wheels (three ■on each side) on rails fixed on the skids

When the l dredge was first tried out on-the soft . swampy ground it was found that .wUie'n it was required tn move forward! the skids would not move, because of .the suction ip the soft giound. This difficulty was ingeniously overcome by fitting a gfip to the rail artd attached by a chain, to the main frame of the dredge, so that, when the dredge lifted it a;.so raised the skid, it then being dasy to pull it forward. This device has made it possible for the 1 dredge to travel over much softer country than what the machine was reaDy built for. UNWIELDY MONSTER. Two. booms', having a 4 oft radiu’, are ajfixed to (the front of the machine.: One bofljm >is stationary and

the other movable, and rest on a turn-table, which is held in position with a king post connected to an A frame and the main iFrame of the dredge'. The booms, tine main frame, and A frame are all of timber reinforced with channel iron. Two s,ets o.?j wire ropes lead to. the two drums (the backing drum and main" hoist drum) in the engine room. The backing drum hauls the bucket suspended on the end of the boom into the bank for filling, and when it is pulled it on the movable~boom it -is held in position by a brake. The hoist-drum then lifts the bucket up. A wire rope round the turn-itable leading to the drum bn either side of t'he mi chine, with a double fixing clutch hauls the boom round and carries the spoil on to the bank. The bucket, which, scoops out the spoil, is capable of scooping out yards of earth, which is equivalent to about a ton. Three scoops can be made ip a minute, and three chains of the drain it is now digging can be done in a day. Inside the dredge we saw the engine, drums, wheels, and a mass of levers.- The power is derived from a 65 horse power Westman four-cylin-der oil engine, fitted with a K.W. magneto with an impulse starter, attached No batteries are required for starting. The dredge is fitted with electric light generated by a small Delco plant. The main drive of the engine is transmitted through a Westinghouse silent chain drive. For the class of country it is working on the dredge has been found to be a bit unwieldy, being difficult to turn, but apart from that it is ,a flue machine, and is doing splendid wortt