TE AROHA HIDING. REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ROAD CONTRACTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 224, 15 October 1887, Page 3

TE AROHA HIDING.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ROAD CONT RACT S.

At the l\si mooting of Pinko County Council the Following Report of Committee on Road Contracts ; To Arolm Riiling was road. — Report of the coiniitittuo appointed by the Piako County Council on tho 27th August 1887, with instiuclions, Bret : To meet and confer with a committee appointed by the r. tepayers of Shaftesbury and Wnioroncomai to investigate the manner j iii which recent contracts bave been let and carried out ; i.o with regard to the cxpendituie of the "special loan;" secon ily : To inspect, and, if approved of, certify to f lirt completion of tho works near Slmftesbury For which a subsidy of £30 was granted by the Council; thirdly : To certify tho works for which fenders havo been called in tho Uruwhao outlying district, and to arrange as to tho acceptance of the lowest or other tender. To the Chairman of the Piako County Council, Sir, — I have the honour to report for [the information of the Council that the I committee, consisting of Mr Gould and i myself, went to Waiorongomai on the I Ist hist, and that we met the Shaftesbury ! Committee consisting of Messrs Roche, Cox, Hunt, and liaskett ami went with them to inspect the \soi ks on the road fiom Waio'onm>maito the (JoiuonlSottlemcnlj Mr Pavitt, engineer, being in attend ance. la presenting our report your committee will only deal with those contracts concerning which cum plaints have i been made, viz, Nos. 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, i 12, 4, and 5, tho last three being bridge contracts. The work done on contracts Nos 2, 8, 9, and 10 was for the mo?t part formation and metalling, and it ! tvas alleged Wiat the metalling was in- j I sufficient ; that some of the worst places had not been metalled at all ; mid that the specifications of woik to be done on No. 9 were not propcily drawn up, the ; engineer having neglected to specify tho depth of ('itch and quantity of stuff to be laid on tho road for a distance of about 300 chains, the consequence being that the oil ditch was merely cleaned out and the cleanings thrown on the road ; also, that some of the contractor were very much behind time. With regard to the last complaint, it is tine that the eontractois for Nos. 2 and X) were as much as 17 weeks and 16 weeks behind time, respectively, but the engineer sUtes that he roj.or'ed this to the Council fiom lime to time, and iw> artionw-w taken by the Cou'ic.i in th matter. With regard (o the complaints about insufficiency <>t" met 1, it ij- difficult to come to a ju&t dm^ion. It iseeitam tliat ilie load imiM, luisc bern \ciy b.id in many pi >ces during the winter, and dune works wliii h j nvie completed within the specified time arc in In tier older th.tu the odk'ii, but at thet-amo time it mnU k> boino m mind that, coii-idei n.L; th' 1 l.iU'-ic-s o! the s<\i -on v> !ie:i i >c woi ks wei o c oiumeiieed ? and the lint tint thoie was a considerable ' amount of ti attic bet .\ em \Vaioioht»o'ua! , and iSh.ifte^bmy while! the work was ! going on, it was almost impossible to ! make a good job of the metalling on a fouud.Uion of mud, and when the contractors fell behind with their work, of course it made matter woise. The engineer also laboured under anotherdifficulty in that he had too much woik to do with the money at his disposal, and ho alleges this as his reason for the slight nature ot the work specified on contract No 9. With leference to the complaints concerning contract No. 11, committee have to report that this contract extends over six miles of road through the Goulon Settlement ; the foundation through the swamps was to have feen 20 feet wide, but when the work was in progess the engineer directed the contractor to make the foundation narrow and higher, ih order to lay a heavier body of stuff on the road, and your committee had practical proof of the necessity of this for they found it somewhat difficulty to pilot their horses along some parts of those swamp roads. The cuttings on this road were to be good enough to take a loaded dray, and though some of the gradients are exceedingly steep and somewhat narrow and tortuous it is evident that drays have been over them, as the wheel marks are now visible, and as the material was carted over the road there must have been loads of some sort on the drays that went over it. This contract was not completed when your committee inspected it, and the engineer stated that the contractor would have to reduce some of the worst gradients before he could pass the work. With reference to the complaints about the substitution of rough timber culverts for pipes on this contract the engineer explains that when he laid out the work in the dry weather at the end of the summer he made no provision for ditching and forming about 10 chains of a peculiar gravelly swamp, which was then quite hard, but he stated that when the work was in progress he had to ditch and form this piece of road ; he also made about six chains of heavy cutting and a slideingdown the precipitous face of a terrace, a most difficult place for a road cutting, and these extra works were paid for by the difference between cost of p'pes and tough timber. Your comtiiiUce aie of opinion that the i eiKMiiefM was ju-it fje i in doing this, taking all the c'icu usLmce^ into consideration. Tho bndgo coutiacts appear to have been well earned out. One of

the win^s of t ho W.uoiongomai bridge was partly earned away, owing to (lit 1 collapse oP the liver bank above the bridge, hut tlio wiuus we to being tied I hack when your committee inspected it, ami thcie is every reason to behove thai Hie aji)M o.irln'S are now propeily secured. Oompl.wnr was made i\\nn\l the Waiiakau bu'ilje, ami some bri 'ges on Hie Maoii resc ive, having Uen built withcut appioaches. '1 he connecting road between the small bridges on tiie leseivo was not nifi'le. m<s ih" ioad \*ns not yer taken, and that dons nod appear lo be owing lo the Fault oF the engineer. The, briui>o over the Wairak-.ui has no ap~ pioachos foi a similar reason. It will be, remembered Iliad it was re.poited to the Council that a deviation should be made in. the load wheie it cio&sps the Wairak.ui, so as to have one c»'o«sin!> instead ol" I wo, and tho new road had not been taken when the bridge coutiact was let. Indeed, your coinmiLlee doubt whether it has yet been finally taken. To sum up, your committee repoit that in their opinion the Council made a mistake in begming these woiks at the end of tho diy season, when it was certain that the new Formation would be cut up by the winter's Itaflie. Then the engineer made a- mistake in proposing to build the bridges over tho Waiorogonmi ard Wairakau streams. if these two bridges had not been buile a sum of L 250 would have been available for expenditure on other parts of the road where work was much more needed. The question of the erection of these bridges was, however, brought up before the Council before the contracts wete let. Therefore tho responsibility has been to a great extent removed from the shoulders of tho engineer. Taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration, your committee are of opinion that though the road i« bad enough, it could not have been made much better for the money. Many mistakes have been made, but tha Council must bear a, certain amount of the blame, partly from its having gone too hurriedly into the expenditure of tho loan, and partly from t o g'eat a laxity in neglecting to enforce the penalties for over time ; and your committee would strongly recommend tho Council to enforce the penalties nominally imposed on contractors who neglect- to tulfil the conditions of their contracts. With reference to the socend of tho instruction, your committee have to report that tho drain near Shaffcesbury appears to have been satisfactorily completed, but the biidge has not yet been removed. With regard to the third of the insti actions, your committee have to report that No. 1 onfcract, for works in the Uruwhao outlying district, hns been let to E. Quinn for LI 25, the suit tic-, for the contractor being Messrs Don ,md (rallaghor. The con'ract is for the formation of the road, do., according to specificationg, expect that there is in he only one ditch instead of the two, a^ oiiginnlly specified. William Chepmeli.. The lepoit was leceived, and the committee thanked. Cr Clwpinell said it wn^ a very ilillicult niritter to nnko satisfactory ro idm rough new country such as lelerred to in the import ju*fc read. Ci Murphy sail, it was satisfacf<uy to know the settlers had received good value for their money, and he was pleased to hear so favourable a re[)ort.