BOROUGH WORKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1917, Page 7

BOROUGH WORKS.

GENERAL.

ENGINEER'S ANNUAL REPORT. - The borough engineer, Mr W. H. Cook, submitted to the borough council on Monday night a report covering the chief items dealt with during the past year:— BUILDING. Building permits to the number of 101 have been issued, inculsive of 41 new dwellings and 13 new or altered shop and office buildings of an estimated value of £40,077. Several large and important buildings are to be erected during the next twelve months, all of which will be of a substantial nature. With regular arrival of large vessels to the port, I anticipate there will be many buildings required for mercantile purposes, such as bond stores, wharf storage sheds and factories. . SEWERS AND DRAINS. Only two short lengths of sewers have been laid, in Lemon Street and Wallace Place; 52 services were installed. Apparently no proper record has been kept of the drainage of the town. Although a scheme was prepared covering the original area of old New Plymouth, it seems that such has not been adhered to. Alterations and deviations from the scheme have not been made with any real method; plans seem to have been looked upon as superfluous, and sewers have been laid without taking into full consideration possible future extensions. The want of reliable data as regards levels, depths, etc., is already felt and will become of increasing importance with the growth of the populations. As time permits, I intend that the system as installed be cheeked and a drainage map be prepared showing possible extensions. . lam afraid it will be found much of the work done will have to be. remodelled. , ■ Services and Mains.— Ninety-five new services haVe been laid, including two private fire services. I recommend the the council to seriously consider whether it is not wiser to lay proper dimensioned pipes in all cases where, the length exceeds 100 feet, even if it means such has to be done by loan, rather than continue outlaying revenue upon so much small pipe, which will be to a large extent useless as the streets served by them becoino more built up to. Much of the 3in. original mains are now badly corroded and will also require renewing in the near future, and there are several streets which should be reticulated. Bursts in Mains.— Several hursts in the street mains have occurred, and it is anticipated similar troubles will have to be met from time to time, as rusting action is showing very badly in places where such have been bared for inspection. WASTE WATER. In last year's report it was stated the summer of 1915-1916 was the driest in lfi years, and that no anxiety need be felt as regards shortage of water. Since then various factors governing the supply to the town have become more prominent. lam informed that the Waiwakaiho RiVer in the intake is lower by some inches than has been recorded at the power station at any previous time, and a considerable amount of work has recently been undertaken, with the object of turning into the race leading to the dam every available cubic foot of water from this river, the objective being to keep the ful head, over the tunnel, at the Mangamahoe dam. The Mangamahoe river bed is practically dry, and whilst it is not anticipated that an actual shortage will occur this season, it is known for certain that the combined rivers will not supply enough water in dry seasons to fulfil power requirements for the rapid growth 'of the borough electrical concerns. There can be little doubt, with the demands to be made upon the electricity department in the near future, that a larger volume of water will, failing another supply, be withdrawn from the forebay, and it can easily be the case that either the head is so lowered, as to materially leffect the volume of water sent to and passing through the filters or that the intake pipe may become emptied That there is a very considerable amount of water wasted in the own cannot be gainsaid. The remarkable drop in the reservoir clearly shows that not all the water is put to legitimate uses. It may be that definite steps will have to be taken to stop this prodigal waste, for it must be borne in mind that waterworks are costly to enlarge. As in the case of draintge no plan exists showing the correct reticulation ot water mains. This will be attended to as soon as possible.

STREETS. The following streets have been either metalled or re-surfaced:—Victoria Road, Carr.ington Boad, Sackville, Barriball, Karamu, McLean, West, and Avenue, and a part of the tram route soltarred. These works were completed prior to my assuming office early in November, since when the, following have been dealt with:—Wallace Place, from Standish Hill, a short length of Cutfield Road, Taynter's Avenue, Pioneer Road, Gover Street hill, Standish Hill, Dawson Street, the two last being tarred. Kerbing has been laid in Paynter's Lane and Mt. Edgecombe Street, and minor repairs made to other streets, and in East Emi and Esplanade reserves. Preparations are in hand for commencement of work in Carrington Road, from Courtenay Street to Victoria Street, for relaying of paths in Devon Street. All the previously tarred streets will shortly be repaired and re-tarred, and a length in Courtenay Street and Liaidet Street will also be tarred with at least one or two coats should the weather hold tip. TRAM TRACK. This and the whole width of Devon Street is being re-tarred and sanded Unfortunately a considerable area was originally tarred, prior to it being thoroughly cleaned free from dust and dirt, the result being a tendency to Bake off. Short of re-making the surface, it is only practical to lengthen its usefulness by re-painting, taking as much wear out of it as possible and re-surfacing with tar macadam when worn down. .To do otherwise would necessitate drawing upon revenue to such an extent that all other streets would have to be neglected. PATHS. In a recent report dealing with the construction and surfacing of paths I made a recommendation re storm- waters from private properties. This is a matter that must not be shelved or overlooked. I also advocate tar and sand surfaces for the greater mileage of the outer (irea paths. If this is'not adopted, residents outside a radius of a quart■•r of a mile r ">m Devon Street will not have a decci. footpath into the. inner area for years to come. There are good examples of this class of pavement within the borough laid down some years

Contract versus Day! I/abor.—Much can be said in favor for both systems of carrying out various works. With proper supervision, there is no valid reason why the works of the borough cannot be carried out under day labor,with possible exceptions where expensive contiactmg plant is required and not owned by the Corporation. Plans, etc.—l have already pointed out the lack of plans and data regarding past working; one of the chief necessities is a reliable map showing the levels of the borough in relation to a fixed and ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The borough electrical engineer, Mr. R. H. Bartlev, has submitted the following report on the Electric Lighting Department:— A perusal of the accompanying figures will show clearly the progress made in tlie Electric Lighting Department during the year ending March 31, 1917: Units generated at powerhouse, 1,450", CGI; units recorded at sub-station, 1,045, 050; sold for lighting, heating and power, 508,916;-used on street lighting, 79,540; used on traction, .342,350; used on works, including power for exciter and transformer losses (powerhouse), 200,000 used on works (sub-station), 8400; losv in transmission from powerhouse to substation, 204,111, or 10.3 percent.; lost in distribution from sub-station to consumers, 108,744, or a 15.5 per cent. The less on transmision is heavy and is due to the old conditions, which existed during four months of this year. These conditions are now entirely altered and the current is being fcan'smitted at a pressure of 6800 volts in place of 2300, and this; altogether with certain transformer alterations, has reduced the loss from 25 per cent, to 31 per cent. The 10.3 per cent, loss as shown is made up of four months' running under 25 per cent, and eight months' under 3J per cent, conditions. There have been 101 new consumers connected to the mains during the year and 106 additions made to old consumers' installations. These new consumers and additions amount to an increased installed capacity of 372 k.w. A. large proportion of this extra load has been connected late in the year, and will consequently not show to much advantage in this year's records. The number of consumers at March 31, 1918, was 1092, and at March 31, 1917, 1883, au increase of 1 ; 1.S per cent. The horse-power of motors in operation increased in the same period from 536 to 826, or 54.1 per cent. The load increased from 302 k.w. to 450 k.w., or 24.3 per cent. The large percentage of increase in units generated is mainly due to the tramways, although the increase due to ordinary power and lighting supply is very substantial aiid will mean much towards the reduction of generating costs. This position presented from another standpoint introduces a very serious aspect, in as much as the demand for current is rapidly overrunning the power station capacity, and. as already stated, I am anticipating that the powerhouse plant will during the winter be compelled to operate an overload. To overcome this does not merely mean that additional plant must be added to the present station, as the question of a limited water supply is then immediately introduced. Consideration of this factor is not being neglected, although it will take some time before a definite* recommendation can bs made. The additional source of power in my opinion should be hydraulic if possible, but there are many points to be taken into consideration which may entirely alter this view. The council has already requested the borough engineer and myself to report jointly on this matter, but it. appears to me that some special time needs to be set apart for this work, as it eutails careful investigations of the river and surrounding country, and the time available, apart from our ordinary duties, will not suffice to produce a decision in the time that the position.warrants. The demand for the use of electricity in New Plymouth will continue to grow in Bpite of no great pushing effort on the pa.*t of the department, and were it such that, ample power was available I have no hesitation in stating that the department could have considerably augmented the percentages increase shown in this report. In making this review prior to the drawing up of the department balance sheet I am unable to make any comments on the expenditure or costs'of the various items appertaining to the working of the department, but I am confident that the percentage as between expenditure and revenue earned will be more favorable than in previous years. The charges made for current supplied compare favourably with those made in other New Zealand towns, yet the percentage as between expenditure and revenue, taking for example, the figures for the year ending March 31, 1910, are too high. This is a phase that almost every electric supply scheme passes through, although with careful consideration of the various Hems the position can be very much improved. I refer mainly to an equitable form of charging for current supplied for various classes of loads, and the expenditure of capital, which is not earning au adequate return. I lmve dealt with these matters in a separate report.