PUBLIC WORKS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4788, 27 July 1876, Page 3

PUBLIC WORKS.

The contractors for the layingof. the permanent way on . the Hawke’s Bay railway section Waipawa-Takapau, are vigorously pushing on the work. The rails are now laid as tar as Waipukurau, and ihs Telegraph says an engine and train of trucks on Wednesday ran from there to Te Ante. . From-a reliable source, the Wairarapa Standard learns that fair, but rather slow, progress is bein» made with the railway over the Bimutaka ranges.. The summit tunnel is 1860 feet in length. On ' the Featherston side it has been excavated to its full size for a distance of about 1100 feet from the mouth or more than half way ; while at the opposite, or Wellington end, driving is about to commence, and strong hopes are entertained that the whole length will be pierced in eight months from the present time. At the same time it must bo borne in mind, that from the looseness and laminated strata cut through, it will have to be cased nearly its whole length with brickwork, varyin"- in thickness according to the solid or friable nature of the walls and roof of the tunnel. On Mr. McKirdy’s contract about 120 men are employed, and work steadily. The same may be said of Mr. Oakes’s contract, which is a difficult one. In fact, all the three contracts, from an engineering and manual labor point of view, offer serious difficulties in execution. For these contracts it has been difficult to obtain and retain first-class navvies. The men are paid from. 7s,' to Bs. per day ; some earn more. These rates of wages may appear high, but in these ranges the rainfall is excessive and very frequent, and the number of .days the men can work in a month is much less than at a lower altitude. Hence many men prefer a lower rate of wages on the plains to a higher rate on the hills. From this labor difficulty, and to expedite the progress of the works, it has been found necessary to introduce and try Chinese labor for Mr. Oakes’s contract. How it will answer, lemains to be seen. ‘Sixty Chinamen have arrived, and arc on the works ; sixty more are expected. Their pay will be about 6s. per day ; and it is now to be hoped that more rapid progress will be made on this, the longest delayed railway line in New Zealand. .. ■