OHINEMURI COUNTY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4697, 12 May 1924, Page 1

OHINEMURI COUNTY.

ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer, Mi' E. Shaw, submitted the following repprt to the' Ohinemuri County Council meeting on Thursday last: — • Tenders were called on April 17 for gravelling portion of Rotokohu Road. Only one tender was received, that of Brenan and Co., Ltd., whirs was accepted. ' The following contracts under Government grants have been completed : Fo'-imng and metalling 12% chains ol Beam's Road, Waitawheta, and also forming' and culverting 49 chains of Sweatman's Road, Owharoa. All metalling contracts are held - up on account of wet weather and owing to the condition of the roads being car:ed over. ‘■J. J. Birch's Contiraet for Metalling Frankton Road, Waihi.—Owing to the condition of the road to be cartc.l over, and the plant at his disposal for conveying the metal, namely, moto: trucks, I found it necessity to stop the .work, and by mutual consent 1 agreed to relieve him of his contract and pay him for metal delivered to date, and ■ recommend ■ the return of his deposit. In taking-this'step I ma>say that Mr Birch had endeavoured in every way possible to complete the work, but luck was against him. M'r Ashby lias agreed to complete the contract. A letter from Mr Birch will come before you to-day on the mattei. “Since your last meeting two Hoods have occurlred which played havoc with the roads and bridges within the county. The metal roads suffered to a large extent, being deprived of the line metal and leaving the surface in a rough and uneven state, particularly on the Paeroa-Waihi main road. Numerous washouts occurred,, along with bridges being washed away and others damaged. The following bridges suffered: Waitete. at the boundary of the Waihi Borough, complete washed away; two on the Golden Cross H-o:ul, one pH the Old Tauranga road over Mangakeri Stream, the threespan bridge known as Crean's ove l ' Mangakeri Stream on Frankton Road wa; severely strained and will now need to be anchored, and two foot bridges over Taieri Stream at Owharoa ; also three bridges on the Waili-'-Whanganiata road were lifted. In many cases the settlers werte completely cut off. My attention was directed to the most urgent work first. which gave the most benefit to th : greatest number. The boundary bridge over Waitete Stream, as you tire aware, was washed away, and athis bridge is under the control of the XVsiihi Borough, the day following the Hood I approached the officials concerning the erection of a temporary structure, but they at that time were too busy with fleod damages within z tho borough to' give assistance. I therefore got some of the county surfacemen together and gathered sufficient timber to erect a tempo,ai' structure, wliicli is now limited f : 2 1 '. tons for each load. The council thanks are due to Mr Dean) for allowing fl ~-oadway .to be made through his propel ty to the new 1 structure. "One of the bridges on Golden Cross Roid was completely washed away. The length of this bridge was 18ft, tint tills site has been scoured out to .such an extent that it now requires -a span of 38ft. As this was an urgent care ’ visited the site, in company with drs. Corbett and Morgan, and agreed to have a new structure erected at once. This, was done within two weeks. The second bridge has collapsed and is covered with dehris, but traffic has been resumed. “Owing to tlie railway “trike and the stoppage of trains an excessive amount of traffic was thrown on the main roads, and in. consequence the roads suffered, requiring extra maintenance. Word was received from the Government for local bodies to do their best to keep the roads open for traffic, and a grant for extraordinar-nr.-.iiitenance would bh made. A claim, for lloi d damages amounting.to'£l4ls was’ made- to the Public Viorks Department. This amount includes £750 for bridges over Waitete Stream. Authority has come to baud for £482 10s, £ for £ Owing to the increased traffic during tlie strike it will be necessary to repair portions of the PaeroaTe Aioha road with metal. I would, ■therefore, ask for 100 cubic yards of metal for the road between the To Arolia boundary and Maiigaiti, and 50 cubic yards for between Tirohia ami Paeroa. Other portions of the mai l roads and by-roads will need repairing with metal now and during the winter “Abattoirs. —In company with the inspectolr a visit was made to the abattoirs. The necessary repairs required were pointed out, and it was arranged for the work to be done during an interval of killing operations. “The Waitawheta-Waihi toad is in a very bad .state, and needs urgent repair.-. 1 have given instructions to the foreman of the riding to proceed with this work next week. :