TARRED ROADS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1897, 31 October 1918, Page 4

TARRED ROADS.

... - WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN TARANAKI. Referring to the Taranaki tarred roads, the president of tlie Otago Motor Club recently related what had been done in road improvement in the Egmont district. They recognised that their roads would not stand up to (lie work required of them. In other words, failure was written across their present method of road (-oust met ion. Roads deteriorated rapidly these days, not, us many pimple supposed, because a motor car did so much more damage to the road than did a horse vehicle, but because of the multiplication of the traffic. The average road to-day was called upon to stand twenty limes more work than it did ten or twelve years ago. Could they, then,' profess to be surprised that roads i|uick!y got into disrepair, or that local bodies found it increasingly dillicult to maintain their roads in good order? These things followed as an inevitable effect of (ho increased use of the roads. In frying to make their roads si and work for which they wore not tilled they were in I lie same position as a man Irving lo drive a motor lorry with a motor cycle engine. Modern Ira Hie requirements must he met with modern road construe!ion. Ten years ago Taranaki was (he worst voaded district in New Zealand. To-day it possesses lhe best motoring roads in Australasia. Owing lo poor foundations, scarcity of suitable metal, and an excessively wet climate, the Taranaki counties bad in their reading a problem requiring considerable engineering ability, it was soon apparent that old must give place to up-to-date ideas of road construction. The lirst tarred roads were not a success, neither were others that followed; but each failure taught a lesson, until to-day a lirslclass road was being laid down that was entirely satisfactory. A partially distilled tar was now used, a tar from which the oil and volatile spirit had been extracted, and it would not (low when cold. Taranaki had made a success of road-mak-ing. In comparison with Taranaki, their road-making problem was simple. With few exceptions their main roads had well consolidated foundations, and they had an abundance of lirst-Hass metal, so that there was no reason why they should not have roads equal to those in Taranaki and at a much smaller initial cost and subsequent upkeep, Taranaki was an important dairying centre, and its roads carried very heavy motor traffic —10-ton motor lorries used the roads constantly without doing any damage lo the roads. Taranaki experience regarding cost was that it cost no more to maintain a perfect road in perfect order than it did to maintain an ordinary rotten road in its ordinary rotten condition. To a party of councillors who last year made' a tour of inspection of the roads in the Baimate West County, Mr Phillips (chairman of the Comity Council) said: “If you are satisfied, as we are, that our roads are good, please remember (hat we make these roads and keep them in repair, do all the other work of the county, meet our hospital liability, and pay. all interest charges, etc., on a total rate of lid, and without the aid of a single toil-gate."