BUCKLEY DRAINAGE BOARD.

Shannon News, 26 April 1927, Page 2

BUCKLEY DRAINAGE BOARD.

NEW BOARD MEETS. FLOOD-GATE EXCEEDS ESTIMATE The first meeting of the newly elected trustees of the Buckley Drainage Board was held on Saturday morning. Present.—Messrs. R W. Taylor, H. Easton, R. Law, R. A. Spiers and J. W. Egginton. Mr. Taylor was re-elected chairman. A copy -of the agreement between the Ilorowhenua County Council ahd the Board in- connection with the Koputaroa stream floodgate was received, also the Council's cheque for £75, being iheir •contribution towards, the eost of the floodgate. REPORT ON FLOODGATE. Mr. Farquhar, engineer, reporting ofi the floodgate stated that. considerable delay had been experience d in this work owing.to the very unsatisfactory nature of the country excavated for the foundations. Thi3 has necessitated 'increasing the thickness of the floor and. part of the walls, and also additional reinforcing, besides requiring the removal of a greater qiiantity of spoil owing to the country’ not standing. A delay of a week was also caused by a fresh in the river, the excavation being wholly under ‘•yafcer. Water soakage under the old gate has also caused trouble, requiring additional .timber for sheet piling and also; a, 6-ir.ch pump, which Mr. 11. Akers, of has kindly lent free of charge, provided it is returned in good order and condition. With this pump and Mr. Law's tractor to drive it, the water is now well under control. The whole of the foundations and floor, with the exception of the wing walls is now in place and the boxing for the walls is being erected. Mr. Hay, the Board’s engineer, who had b:en asked" to attend the meeting and report on the floodgate and banking, stated that in'respect to the floodgate as they all" knew, they bad been, a little unfortunate, owing to . floods causing the foundation to soften, which had necessitated a new design, in cor;-, crete and reinforcements. This would lesult in a considerable cost above the original estimate of £496, as already roughly £3OO had been spent to date. It was obvious the work will cost several hundred pounds. He thought if was his duty to say- that the reason of the increase in cost was due to unforeseen circumstances. He had seen it himself and ‘he could assure . them everything had been done that was possible. The work certainly could not have been done by contract and if a contract had been let at £750, the contractor would probably have been compelled to throw it up. The dangerous and difficult work had now been completed and the remainder would be plain sailing. / The thanks of the Board were due to Mr. Law for the interest shown by him. In regard to repairing the foundation of the old floodgate, the earth had slipped away and the floor had cracked. He did not expect to find the conditions so bad and the Board would be wise to build a duplicate in concrete. Referring to the earthwork, he said Noi. 4 gap was jnst about completed. The contractor had been written to asking him to expedite the work, which was being done well. An extra 2 feet on top must be done, as 4 feet was the width specified. He recommended that it should be dammed off and the Board make an inspection. He said he would bring down a. report cn the improvement of the Koputaroa stream as to the best way to make improvements for flood protection and drainage. RE-CLASSIFICATION NECESSARY'.

The chairman said the report came as a bombshell and a re-elassifieation of the Board’s district would have to be made as soon as Mr. Hay’s report came to hand, to enable, them .to procure money for the work in hand and work to be done.

A long discussion followed us to how the district should be classified and the Clerk was inctructed to write to the Minister of Internal Affairs as to whether they could classify, as follows (1) a general rate for the whole area which would receive some benefit; (2) maintenance and interest on loan for Buckley area; (3) the, major scheme for floed protection. The meeting then terminated.