"SPLENDID DODGING”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 818, 12 November 1929, Page 12

"SPLENDID DODGING”

DEALINGS WITH HIGHWAY BOARD CHAIRMAN’S DENUNCIATION t! ' M. ' -"a Tuivn r.uurd last tvon"7\ 1.-tf ■ ":.s r- ad from tl ■ Mam 1 ays Hoard rr?avdms v. o> k on ,: IU . at South I toad and Mr. l.arnard ta conuvn rult d t iai the chairman, Air Cl alia her., interview Mr. T--1 ivson. the hoard's representative on tla- X ■ f IMstriot Hialnvays t uunnl. Ml- i hdlallir said hi- absolutoly 10-tu-a-d to t alto any such action. U had hot-11 •■Jloll on earth" to deal with th. nlnvats board riyht through tho 00. Tho town board had written a j. tier of protest against the delay reaardinx tho inspection of the bitumen shoulders on tlic Great South Road. Advice If ad been received on duly , that tho inspection would he canieU ol ,t at an early date. Objection was ,iiso taken to the withholding of G S-t of the subsidy money on this work, which should have been paid o\ or The letter from the Main Highways Board stated that Air. AUT'arlanc had been out of town so that attention could nut be given to tho question earlier. Referring- to the future of the bituminised shoulders at the bends, the letter stated that this was no doubt due to the faulty application of the bitumen. On other parts of the highway the bitumen shoulders at bends were satisfactory, and should have been so at Manurewa if they had been laid down properly. While the wot It was being carried out. the letter added, Air. AlcFarlane had cause to criticise the work, particularly as to the thickness of metal and the. uneven temperature to which the bitumen was heated. Xo doubt, want of attention to these two points was a factor in the failure of the shoulders in a number of places. The remainder of the subsidy would not be paid until the weak places had been made good, and the shoulders com pleted satisfactorily. Air. Gallaher said that the letter was a. “splendid bit of dodging.” The highways board had accepted everything in the specifications and conditions when the work was done. The town board pointed out at the time that two inches of metal was not sufficient, but the highways board had insisted on these conditions. The whole question was only in keeping with all of the highways board’s dealings with this board, added the speaker. The foreman reported that the temperature of the bitumen was supervised by both Mr. AlcFarlane and Mr. Topdell. It was agreed that the board meet Air. AlcFarlane when he visits the district to inspect the shoulders.