GALATEA ESTATE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 226, 18 May 1932, Page 5

GALATEA ESTATE

COST OF WORK ■ INGORRECT STATEMENTS REGARDING ROADING AND CLEARING MISLEADING IMPRESSION Apropos tbe recent attention focussed upon the position at Galatea, a number of inaccurate statements regarding the cost of roading, feneing, and clearing on the estate appeared on Tuesday in an Auckland daily. Ih the course of this article, it was alleged that extravagant methods had been adopted in carrying out the roading and fencing, and that 'there had been an "ittequality Tn the rates of payments to_men engaged on scrub cutting work. •From investigations made yesterday by a "Morning Post". representative, however, a number of the statements made, appear to he entirely incorrect and calculated to convey a misleading impression of the position. The general tenor of the article, in advocating some practical development of the estate, was substantially in support of the views expressed in an article published last week by the "Morning Post," but . allied to this advocacy was an entirely incorrect presentment of the position so far as the work already carried out on the estate is concerned. Such inaecuracies are calculated only to destroy a proper perspective in reviewing the position. It was claimed hy the author of the article that extravagant methods had been pursued in the road eonstrUc- . tion on th& estate, and that where- ^ actual cost of the work had been £45 per mile, it should, in ■ noint of fact, have been caried out for £20. The cost quoted is approximateV correct, but the contention that this ■ figure is extravagant cannot he substantiated. Specially Adapted The road formation was carried out on substantial lines and was specially adapted to the class of country through which it passes, but despite this fact, by any comparative standards, an expenditure of £45 a mile is extremely reasonable. The roads were formed 30 feet wide, the crown being built up on the original earth formation to avoid the necessity of ploughing into the soil. On . the Galatea country, this latter method would inevitably result in speedy rutting and a bad surface. The actual construction method adopted, however, will give a much more durable surface and one specially designed to meet the local conditions. It was further contended that the employment of mechanical roading devices unnecessarily increased the cost of the work and kept a number of men out of employment who, the writer claimed, could have done the ; construction as cheaply, if not more cheaply than was actually the case. Actually, the cost of £45 per mile made possible through the use of up-to-date tractors, scoops and graders would have been increased to over £200 per mile if drays and manual labour had been employed. The graders used were excravating at cost of 5d a cqific yard, a figure which could not have possibly be equalled by manual labour. The cost per chain of construction would be from £2/14- to £3/10- as against the actual cost of 12/6 per chain. In the face of the allegations of extravagance brought forward, it is a little difficult to reconcile the writter's attitude toward the employment of roading machinery with his other contentions. The carrying out of excavation at 5d a yard was also cheap, as the average cost of this Ume of work caried out by mechani- _ cal means, is, 7d or 8d a yard. Not a Comparison To back up his statement that the roads could have been constructed for £20 per mile the writer of the article states that the Forestry Department • made roads of similar formation -at a cost of from £5 to £20 per mild. It is true that roads have been made hy the Forestry Department at this figure, but they are narrow, unnietalled, and not graded; they are not in fact, designed to carry any body of traffic, and certainly not the volume which could he expeeted were the original plans for the settlement of Galatea pursued. It is a praeticable possibility that under proper management, the Galatea valley might settle 1000 families over 10 or fifteen years, and under those circumstances, roads which would serve the purpose of a forestry camp would he entirely inadequate. One 75 h.p. caterpillar tractor, a second 20 h.p. tractor, one five-tcn heavy grader, a two-ton grader, and two automatie self-dumping scoops were used for the roadmaking woik,^ and were able to shift an average of 500 cubic yards of excavation per day. Under hand labour conditions, one man would shift approximately 12 yards per day and would he paid from 1/3 to 1/6 a yard. At this figure it can easily he perceived that the mech anical apparatus would carry out the work at a much more economical figure.

Cost of Metalling It was further stated that 13 miles of roading had been metalled at a cost of £280 per mile, a figure which the writer appearcd to consider excessive. Actually 15£ miles were metalled at a cost of £225 per mile— again a figure which hy comparative tests must admittedly he considered reasonable. A similar type of roading but with a lower quality metal, was carried out on th's Ngakuru bloclc and cost £400 a mile. The Galatea work was fortunate in that laTge supplies of first-class metal were to be found on the estate and this was used for the whole of the metalling. Scrub Cutting Scrub cutting methods were also criticised. The writer said that blocks of scrub had been let by contract to men with mowers and horses alid other blocks to men with slashers. The men had been paid on a sliding scale at the lowest rate possible, but the proprietors of the machiiies were paid full rates and were not subject to the sliding scale -It was proved, the writer stated, that the gangs re-