HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 14 April 1919, Page 4

HOROWHENUA COUNTY COUNCIL.

i ENGINEER'S REPORT. j ,The County' Engineer-. (Mr J. Mal- • colm) submitted tlio following report: — Te Horo Riding. I I ktv-.'il .biucu pleasure in reporting t'fcat' the" widening of 'the main road, Wnikanao to Hadficld, is finished and < passed by the government inspecting engineer (Mr (Nathan). It is true, we have'expended more money than w;.s at i first intended. At the same time wo have widened about 40 chaina more length of road, and we now have aoou; two and a half instead of two miles of road. The best of it is the other is of sufficient width to wait. , The formation and metalling of the p*ccc of road in "-.he soldiers' sett lenitmc I j i'ukeuainu) is now done,- re- ' pairs to the road ff'om thcrq.rHek to the ' j beach will be finished to-day. 1 The contractor (Mr. Wintcr);yAwili 1 start atonebreakihg early next' week; I another fortnight should nearly finish j :a Te Horo if the weather keeps good. i The asphalting of the Otaki ..bridge • is about finished for the present. .Kome of the hardwood for the passing;span. . is forward, and the balance is dailicex" peeted. I have been on the outlook for ' a carpenter to undertake the wor; anc 'have tried several, but they aVa all i busy.

i As arranged with you I have ovuers/i j 1000 gallons of coal tar from the Wei I lington Gas Company, and will £ot .-• section of the road in the township oi Te Horo treated with it as soon p < the I ''bridge is finished. . . Otaki Riding.' ■ ?5 lam still going on with some road 1 widening by George Be van's, and will, ' with your leave, continue until the i metal contractor gets on the job. 1 I propose calling tenders for the fenc- ' ing oi' the new gravel pit at Waitohu j fiat, the to;:dcre to clone in a fortnight. They can be dealt v. iih by Or. Ryder. f huve.gov the pound erected at Munakau, and I understand they are using it. The North Manakau water supply is about finished at last. There is a nice.stream going all the way. which will increase as time goes on. I think there is silt in the pipes that will wash out, after we : get a Hood in the stream. I sent forward with the correspondence a letter I received from the railway engineer relative to the depth of., the pipes befow the rail level. I think it will be best for us to get them eased in concrete, as it would require two or three chains of pipes to take the water away from them if we had to lay them at the depth he asks for. J propose, with your leave, to lay asphalt on the Waitohu bridge if it is good enough. I intend to have it tested at once if I can get a. carpenter. I think if the life of it can be prolonged five years it is worth doing, as the cost will only be about £.17 30s. Wirokino Riding. There is nothing doing in the ridiug but trying to put in a groyne in the Ohau river at the Kimberloy road crossing to try and protect Hyland's road, as was asked for by the settlers at last meeting. In re Arapaepae road extension and the request of the settlers at : the last meeting of the Council, I have now to report that I have taken the levels and submit a section of the part complained about, and my estimate for the work proposed is £l3O. To do more would become very expensive, as it 1 would involve the cross road (Mc--1 Lcavey-'s). Surely a gradient of 4 feet per chain is good enough for a district road: Tokornaru Riding. The widening of the first section of the main road on the Ihakara cutting ■■ is now done very creditably.- I have ( marked another section in the AVirokino I Riding.,and have asked them to give mo a tender to-day. I was unable to send our own men to ihe bill, as they had to -. go to something else. I am getting the large pipe culverts laid in the north end where required. When yrfti see the timber that is being taken out it makes you wonder what has been keeping the road up. I had no j idea they were so rotten. ,1 I can get drays to effect the most , necessary metal repairs near Shannon S next week. I do not intend to do any- ! thing to the main road between Shanj non and the Miranui mill, but keep it ! passable until the scarifier can be got to put it in shape. I think in most ; places there is plenty of metal, but it is all out of shape. As the public works estimates will have to be got read;' at once I would , like every councillor to send me. a list j of all the requirements in his district. I know a good many'of them in all disi tricts, but there is sure to be some for- • gotten unless the councillors will remind me.