ROAD SURFACES.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 320, 24 December 1929, Page 4

ROAD SURFACES.

TAR OR PENETRATION. Piako Council’s Views. The respective merits of tar-seal-ing .and concrete penetration for surfacing main highways were the subject of a prolonged debate at Monday’s meeting of the Piako County Council.

Mention by the chairman (Mr. W. R. Lowry) that the time was ripe for county councils to settle the question of road surfaces brought out supporters for both methods. Cr. Walters advocated inquiring into the possibilities of concrete penetration instead of following the accepted practice of tar-sealing. Coming along the road from Waitoa that morning, said the chairman, the road had been over-hung with a cloud of dust like a fog. At present the road was blown away to the next man’s paddock by passing motor traffic. They had been granted a subsidy of £2 for £1 for tar-sealing main highways so as to provide dustfree roads. He had discussed the matter with the engineer, and they were agreed that tar-sealing was the only method suitable for main roads. Penetration was not good enough. Tar-sealing was the recognised way of putting a road down. Up-to-date tests had not yet been taken as to penetration, but Australian engineers had condemned it as too costly. Of course the company concerned was pushing it for all it was worth. The engineers said the cost of concrete penetration was about 12s a square yard. The total cost of tar-sealing on county roads was 4s 8d a square yard for sealing, and the cost to the council was Is 7d, as there was a subsidy of £2 for £1 from the Highways Board. They would have to provide only Is 7d a square yard for a dustless road, while for concrete penetration the cost to the council would be 6s a square yard, as the Highways Board only gave £1 for £l.

Cr. Walters said that the Public Works engineer in Auckland had said that if the concrete penetration method proved successful there was a possibility of the Highways Board granting a subsidy of £2 for £l. The cost of bitumen sealing was £2OOO a mile. The cost of upkeep and interest as estimated by the engineer was £l2O a mile, but he thought this was too high an estimate. If it was only going to cost £3OOO a mile to lay down a concrete road with an annual upkeep of only £2O a mile he could not overlook this fact, though he admitted that experience had proved that bitumen was a better road in 10 years than when first laid. Cr. Kennedy asked how the Highways Board viewed this dispute over different methods of laying down the highways. It was a piecemeal way of constructing main highways, for the ratepayers in each riding to lay down their sections of road in different materials. The chairman said the board was in favour of a sealed highway. Other methods would only get the subsidy usually granted for the construction of roads. The road from Te Aroha to Waitoa was a key highway and bore a great amount of traffic. In Cr. Kennedy’s riding the proposal had not been turned down by a representative meeting of the ratepayers. The only method of deciding the matter was to take a poll and carry it one way or another.

Cr. Kennedy said he was in favour of tar-sealing, but what would the ratepayers say if he did not put the question of concrete before them?

The chairman reminded Cr. Walters that only £1 for £1 would be granted for concrete penetration roads. In Taranaki tar-sealed roads were still good after 16 years’ wear, although they were bearing tremendous traffic.

The engineer quoted from the statement of the Highways Board for last year, showing that an overwhelming amount of road had been laid down in tar-sealing. Cr. Kennedy said the Highways Board was paying only £1 for £1 for a good concrete road, and £2 for £1 for an inferior tar-sealed road. He agreed to submit the question to the ratepayers of his riding if the rest of the council was agreed in favour of tar-sealing. He then moved that a poll of ratepayers of the Waihou riding be taken on the question of tar-sealing the highway, and this was carried without dissent.

Speaking at a later stage of the meeting, on the question of roading, the chairman remarked that all the county councils were realising now that they are up against it. If the Piako council did not seal its roads it would be left behind. They had the funds and must carry out a progressive policy for the benefit of future councils.