THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1917 CONCRETE ROADS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 262, 27 March 1917, Page 2

THE Pukekohe and Waiuku Times PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1917 CONCRETE ROADS.

''We nothing extenuate, nor net down auaht in malice."

L\ connection with the proposal that Tuakau's roads should be laid down in concrete in expending the loan money recently authorised by the ratepayers it can be taken as a certainty that concrete roads are destined to play an important pari in the development of this country in the near future Members of local bodies ali over the country are evincing keen interest in the subject of concrete roads and already experimental strotches have been put down. Tlio great success of this type of roadway in Canada and America should make it clear to road builders and contractors in New Zaaland that there is an opportunity awaiting road engineers of this country. Any road builder who has a full s(-t of the labour-saving applianees which the concrete road movement has developed in America, and the knowledge of how best to use them ; would be kept very busy even under present conditions putting down stretches of concrete loads in various localities. If he were able to'give a definite estimate of cost and guarantee a iirst-class job he would not be able to compote with the demand. The following table will indicate how the concrete road movement has grown in those countries where it has been thoroughly tested, and it follows that it must be the same in Now Zealand once a commencement is made ou the light lines. Iheso figures aix very siguiticuut ; -

CONCRETE HIGHWAYS LAID IX UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

Grand Total 50,851,668 pq. yds. The cost of putting down a concrete road is at present considerably more than that of the macadam roads wo have been used to, but the saving in upkeep, the saving in traction, the saving in wear and tear on vehicles, are so enormous that the roads are said to pay for their construction two or three times over within a period well within their supposed life. All this without taking into account the speed, comfort, and convenience of travelling, the increased value put on to properties within a reasonable distance of the roads, and the general increased prosperity of the districts tapped by them. The more one studies the concrete roads movement, the more one becomes convinced that these roads are in reality the golden pavements of fabled legend. Concrete road building has undoubtedly made greater strides in the United States and Canada than perhaps anywhere else, but it is also coming to the front in Britain, the Continent of Europe and throughout the world generally.

Prior <o 1909 .. 799,390 sq. yds. 1910 1,313,449 „ 1911 2,069,445 „ 1912 „ 1913 9,596,286 „ 1914 14,815,034 „ 1915 16,401,346 „