PLAINS COUNTY WORKS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4628, 21 November 1923, Page 4

PLAINS COUNTY WORKS.

DELAY IN COMPLETING ROADS. •> . — . PLANT NOT AVAILABLE. In the course of his report to the last meeting of the Hauraki Plains County Council the engineer,. Mr JHiggins, submitted the following : — In opening my remarks I would like first of all to report having accepted Mi’ J. N. Anderson’s application for the position of assistant engineer, Mr Anderson, who took up his duties on the 25th October, is possessed of qualifications which will enable him to render valuable assistance in all branches of the work required, and I am now in a position to keep in close touch with the requirements of the county, and to more closely supervise the works that are being carried out. I have endeavoured during the month to get formation works under weigh, particularly in the Netherton riding, but was unable to do so on account of there being insufficient plant and no. teams available to carry ■out the work. The position is made more difficult owing to the fact that farmers have not the time to work their teams, and contractors', will not accept the rate of pay fixed by your council. With a view to relieving the position, I obtained authority from your chairman to purchase a new Austin grader to be worked in the Netherton riding. I arranged also to have the stolen magneto replaced in the Sampson tractor. It was found, while overhauling the tractor; certain parts require renewing, in addition to which one wheel is in bad order and is not fit to run on rough metalled roads. The 'Paeroa Engineering Company is "replacing the small parts, and will, if possible, secure on approval a secondhand wheel. If the latter cannot be obtained, I would recommend thas the tractor be sqljl while it may yet be turned into farming use. At the present time we have authority to proceed with various works in the nature of forming and metalling, bearing £1 for £1 subsidy, most of which are of old standing and urgent nature . In addition to authorities received, proposals have been submitted to the Public Works Department for practically the whole of the grants shown pn the estimatesUnder conditions ruling in any other county no excuse could be offered for not having most of the works either completed or under weighThis is, however,, an isolated case, in which almost every yard of metal must be carried by punt or scow. There are also other factors wfiic ratepayers are apt to overlook, and quite innocently blame the council and the engineer because works have not been done, and in justice to anyone concerned I. would like to remark as follows The. work offering is not sufficient to induce contractors ■ with plant to come into the county, and the council - has not the necessaiy plant to. carry out the work required in the nature of formation, there being only the tractor and the two graders to serve the whole, of the county . _ It was not until the beginning of the current year that we had the Hikutaia quarry sufficiently developed -to supply metal within a, reasonable margin of cost, the original methods for working the quarry, and for transit of metal being quite impracticable. It is only ten months since the Hikutaia stream was -made navigable and the first county punt towed up to a point where a jetty and chute have since been erected for loading metal on to punts. While the developments to quarry and stream, as mentioned, have advanced to a stage of usefulness, we have not had adequate equipment in the nature of punts to cope with the output from quarry, and in consequence the metal supplied was not sufficient to do ordinary repairs.

Only small quantities can be obtained from an outside source, the charges on. which make it prohibitive except as a last resource.

I might mention that I 1 have up tp the present refrained from asking your council to purchase reading plant for the reason that there is no housing accommodation for machinery. the only alternative being to allow it to stand out in the open while it is not in use.

The matter, however, has become too serious, and if we are to get out_ of the first rut we must have plant to form our roads. We want our quarries developed and-equipped, we require adequate supply of punts to convey metal and more up-to-date methods for discharging same, also better means for distributing our metal on to the roads, and, above all, we require at least one central depot where machinery and tools can be stewed and overhauled while not being ‘ used, and sent back on to r ( oads in good order. In short!, we require ratepayers to vote for tihe machinery loan as set forth in your proposals.

During the last few months I have, by request of ratepayers,, submiVed estimates for laying down bituminous roads covering no less than five ridings. This in itself points to- ithd fact that a movement is afloat to acquire good roads,'and while I appreciate the spirit applied in this direction. I would like to first of all see a machinery loan carried, as under present arrangements it is only wasting energy, as loan moneys could not be expended.

Before closing my remarks, I would like to show what' metal is costing which has been supplied afad delivered by private companies. In the first place it is costing Ils per cubic yard loaded on scow at the Thames. The costs for delivering it on to the banks between Pipiroa and Rawe Rawe (Pi,ako River) is 8s per cubic yard, making a total of 19s per cubic yard, whereas the costs should not exceed 12s 6d per cubic yard, including overhead charges, if Patetonga quarry were developed, thus showing a loss of approximately £6 10s per chain for every chain of new metal laid on the road, or approximately 34 per cent, on metal supplied. The metal now being supplied to Turua is costing 18s per cubic yard on

bank, as against Ils 6d from Hikutaia .if done under proper arrangements, again showing a loss of 34 per cent, on every yard of metal, supplied. It will be seen here that under prcsent arrangements your council is losing equivalent) to one mile of metal in every three miles laid, again show - ing the necessity pr carrying a loan to supply plant and machinery. Tn conclusion, I might add that notwithstanding the fact that nothing much has been done in the way of improving our roads the position .is very much brighter than it ever Was before, for, the reason that it has been proved that with proper equipment you can get cheap metal from Hikutaia to serve the eastern side of the county, You have a quarry at Patetonga that will serve cheap metal on both sides of the Piako river, and the remaining or extreme western side of the county has its own source of supply. You have advantages in the natural waterways by which metal can be put on the roads at a cost that compares fovourably with most counties in the Auckland province if properly applied, and once you have succeeded in your efforts to raise money to equip your natural waterways and quarries, etc., it will be an easy matter to see that your grants are expeditiously and judiciously expended.-