Concrete’s Merit

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 188, 29 October 1927, Page 8

Concrete’s Merit

AUCKLAND’S FINE ROADS Seventy-Five Miles Laid STRETCHED out iu a single strip Auckland's concrete roads would almost pave the distance between the city and Hamilton. The eost of laying them has been huge, not only because they are concrete, but because in many places there has been extensive regrading; but the annual saving on the maintenance of the past leaves a substantial margin.

TUST how much the concrete roads in and leading from the city have cost is difficult to ascertain. The chronicler finds it sufficiently difficult to learn the actual mileage. A year ago the city alone, on its own roads and on the northern highway, had spent over £33,000. The replies to a questionaire reecntly sent out to all the local bodies that have constructed concrete highways, or are constructing them, show that this summer there will be over 75 miles ot concrete. This is made up as follows: Squs Auckland Mount Eden Newmarket Otahuhu Devonport Mount Albert Onehunga Mount Roskill One Tree Hill Mount Wellington Takapana Manurewa Papatoetoe Manukau County Papakura Northcote Northern Highway The effects of these roads are farreaching, and most of them can only be estimated. From the ratepayer’s point of view the experience of, say, One Tree Hill, is a good example. Nearly four miles of its highways have been laid in concrete, at a yearly cost to the ratepayers of some £1,400. The maintenance has been practically nil. Under previous conditions the extremely heavy traffic over these roads would now require an expenditure of anything between £3,000 and £4,000, and the condition of the road could never have been satisfactory. SOUND INVESTMENT Figures and experience go to prove that the extensive use of concrete in the city has not been caused by either sentiment or public body rivalry. The roads have proved too sound an investment for question. In passing, the fact that (hese roads have made Auckland a cleaner and better city cannot be overlooked. They have done much to enhance the reputation of the Queen City. Just all the benefits that accrue to the road-user, particularly to the motorist, cannot be mentioned in me space available, but there is an immense saving to the owner. No expert mind is required to realise that a saving of even as little as £5 a year on tyres, benzine and wear and tear, on nearly 20,000 vehicles in the Auck-

land district, means £IOO.OOO a year, and that the cost ot' all the concrete roads is quickly saved on huge sums like that. However, responsible motorists place the saving at between £l4 and £l6 a year on the average car, and one motorist, whose tyre bill was repeated every six or eight months under other road conditions, considers these figures are low, everything considered. “Everything considered” means depreciation. tyres, benzine, repairs, replacements. and last but not least. Distance. re yards. Miles. Chains. 370,00(1 hi S 3. SOL- 4 S 40.244 2 1-. 12-3.000 0 32 02,SSL 4 2. 15.130 2 22 20.L2S 1 Tt" s!t,’l4:t 5 44 10.456 1 os time. Many sets ot tyres are showing plenty ol life on Auckland roads after 10,000 or 12,000 miles, but in the old days few stood up to more than 8,000. WELLINGTON’S LESSON Considering the magnitude of the operations the concrete-roads policy has been singularly free from criticism. Wellington, which decided to save money by using bituminous concrete, in contra-distinction to the almost 100-per cent. New Zealand roads of Auckland, has been busy finding out that it has not only a black road, but also appears to have a black financial outlook. Criticism has been continuous, and even at the moment the critics are lamenting the paucity of financial details, and pointedly suggesting that their roads have, in reality, cost within a shilling or so a yard of the cost of Auckland roads, when there was supposed to he a margin of four or five shillings. One writer states that he can discover only some 12 to 15 miles out of the total of 20 miles that was supposed to have been laid with a loan of £IBO,OOO raised for the purpose. Moreover he can find no sign of the brick pavement, laid on concrete on steep grades, that was included in the estimate, and was one of its most expensive items. Everything considered, Auckland appears to be justified in a little elation at the results of its cement concrete policy.